Transparency International’s has come out with its latest edition of its Corruption Perceptions Index 2013. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 serves as a reminder of the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world. The Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 – 100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is perceived as very clean. A country’s rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories included in the index. This year’s index includes 177 countries and territories. The report indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem. The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions
According to Huguette Labelle, Chair, Transparency International, “It is time to stop those who get away with acts of corruption. The legal loopholes and lack of political will in government facilitate both domestic and cross-border corruption, and call for our intensified efforts to combat the impunity of the corrupt.”
Scandevian Countries like Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden and Norway have top the charts with higher points while Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are listed as highly corrupt countries, each of them scoring eight.
Nepal has improved its ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index but continues to languish in the list of world’s most corrupt countries.
In the CPI-2013 published today, Nepal ranks 116th, with 31 points on a scale of 0-100 with 0 denoting the most corrupt and 100
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be.
very clean. The report covers 177 countries across the world. Last year Nepal stood at 154th position with 27 points.
Vietnam and Albania too stand at 116th position, along with Nepal. More than two thirds of 177 countries have scored less than 50 points. China and India are at 80th and 94th positions, respectively.
The TI stated that the index was prepared based on the experts’ opinions of public sector corruption and strong access to information system and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions.
According to the TI, corruption within the public sector remains one of the world’s biggest challenges and particularly in areas such as political parties, police and justice system. Public institutions need to be more open about their work and officials must be transparent in their decision making, it said, adding corruption still remains notoriously difficult to investigate and prosecute.
The index, the leading global indicator of public sector corruption, scores countries on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean). The results of the 2013 index serve as a warning that more must be done to enable people to live their lives free from the damaging effects of corruption. Despite 2013 being a year in which governments around the world passed new laws and forged fresh commitments to end corruption, people are not seeing the results of these promises.
