corruption

BERLIN – Canada ranks amongst the top ten least corrupt countries in the world while conflict torn states such as Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq are labelled as nations rife with bribery and corruption, according to a new 2009 corruption perception index revealed Tuesday by Transparency International.

New Zealand rates as the least corrupt nation followed by Denmark, Singapore and Sweden. Others on the top ten list are Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Iceland and Norway, according to the latest confidence index published in Berlin.

Australia, Canada and Iceland have similar levels of corruption, according to the global coalition against corruption known as Transparency International which compiles the index based on more than a dozen independent surveys.

The United Kingdom and the United States rank at 17 and 19 on the index compiled by the global coalition against corruption.

Somalia is branded the most corrupt place on earth followed by Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan, Iraq, Chad, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Haiti.

“As the world economy begins to register a tentative recovery and some nations continue to wrestle with ongoing conflict and insecurity, it is clear that no region of the world is immune to the perils of corruption,” the organization said.

“The vast majority of the 180 countries included in the 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score below five on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption),” it said.

“Fragile, unstable states that are scarred by war and ongoing conflict linger at the bottom of the index.These are: Somalia, with a score of 1.1, Afghanistan at 1.3, Myanmar at 1.4 and Sudan tied with Iraq at 1.5. These results demonstrate that countries which are perceived to have the highest levels of public-sector corruption are also those plagued by long-standing conflicts, which have torn apart their governance infrastructure,” said the group.

“Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society,” said Huguette Labelle, who is chairwoman of Transparency International

“The international community must find efficient ways to help war-torn countries to develop and sustain their own institutions,” she said.

“Highest scorers in the 2009 CPI are New Zealand at 9.4, Denmark at 9.3, Singapore and Sweden tied at 9.2 and Switzerland at 9.0. These scores reflect political stability, long-established conflict of interest regulations and solid, functioning public institutions,” she said.

You can see a full list of countries http://www.transparency.org.