By Shipra Prakash
10 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The humanitarian disaster in Iraq continues, despite gains made in the efforts to decrease violence. Severe widespread poverty and a lack of food and water are a reality, according to two separate reports by Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in March. The economy, the Amnesty International Report said, “is in tatters.” Although the country has the world’s largest reserve of crude oil, attacks and corruption have restricted exports. ‘Corruption’ is the magic word here, and Berlin-based international civil society organization Transparency International (TI) more than agrees that it is rampant in Iraq.
TI, which leads the fight against corruption, last week released their 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). “The perceptions are based on a two year average. Economists, experts in government and business people contributed to it,” Jesse Garcia from TI, told MediaGlobal. Out of a total of 180 countries, Iraq took 178th place. Only Myanmar and war-torn Somalia came after it.
It’s not surprising that a humanitarian disaster continues in Iraq, as TI avers that corruption in low-income countries contribute to such disasters. Louise Shelley, Director of the Virginia-based Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, is of the same opinion. “Corruption undermines security, contributes to inflation, and affects the availability and affordability of basic human services such as water, electricity, sewer services, garbage collection, and medical services and medicine,” she told MediaGlobal.
In Iraq, reconstruction projects have been hit by the corruption crisis. “With so much money diverted by corrupt individuals, many projects cannot be completed or are so substandard that they are often not serviceable,” Shelley added.
And so, TI has called for a shift in policy. “Not only does this call for a redoubling of efforts in low-income countries, where the welfare of significant portions of the population hangs in the balance, it also calls for a more focused and coordinated approach by the global donor community to ensure development assistance is designed to strengthen institutions of governance and oversight in recipient countries,” it said.
Still, present day Iraq does not face endless turmoil. For one, security is better, and the push for it continues to be aggressively pursued. This week, the Iraqi Government announced that doctors would be allowed to carry guns in order to defend themselves. The move was made, following complaints by medical professionals about violence directed at them by militants and criminals.
But besides security, there is higher oil output and increased exports, announced the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in early September. “Future success will hinge on continued improvements in security, sound management of oil revenues, and implementation of key structural reforms,” the IMF said at the time.
“Sound management of oil revenues” will be given a helping hand by the United Nations, as it has now actively joined the ongoing anti-corruption battle in Iraq. On Monday, it announced a five-year plan for the purpose of ridding Iraq of it. “In the past, Iraq’s national wealth was stolen, its public assets were squandered, and its common wealth was dished out to cronies of the regime. The anti-corruption system needs a complete overhaul,” Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said.
While an anti-corruption law is currently being drafted, the UNODC will work with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to strengthen Iraq’s main corruption bodies and improve cooperation between them through the Joint Anti-Corruption Council. As Iraq has already ratified the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in March last year, the job will be easier.
TI said “Iraq’s score of 1.3 highlights the continuing importance of establishing solid, functioning institutions capable of preventing corruption and implementing the rule of law.” And that is exactly what the UNODC and the UNDP plan to do, as their projects will focus on strengthening prevention, transparency, accountability and integrity in the private and public sectors.