Teach GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 2: The new annual survey on corruption shows the state of the world

Update May 2023: Corruption Peception Index 2022 https://transparency.dk/13418-2/

Update February 2024

Corruption Perceptions Index 2023

https://transparency.dk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Report_CPI2023_English.pdf

From 2023 index:

As usual 180 countries and territories around the world are ranked in the "Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2021" from 0 points (very corrupt) to 100 points (very clean) based on assessment of corruption in the public sector.

The information can be summed up like this:

1. No surprise at the top: The same countries are at the top as last year

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand have a shared 1st place, but note that all 3 countries have only achieved 88 out of 100 points, so there is also room for improvement here.
For example in Denmark: Transparency about donations to political parties and politicians, lobbying, whistleblower protection programs, sextortion & Corona crisis relief fraud.

2. The bad news: The state of the world has gotten worse

The global average is 43 points out of 100, which is the same as in ten previous years.
131 countries have not made progress in the fight against corruption in the last 10 years despite declarations to the contrary.
In 2021, 27 countries have scored the lowest they have ever done.

The main conclusion is clear: Anti-corruption measures are stagnating at the same time as human rights and democratic rights are under attack, and there is a clear connection between these 3 conditions in many states.

3. The good news: The fight against corruption continues nonetheless

All over the world, local branches of Transparency International and other grassroots organizations are fighting the corruption they are experiencing in their communities.
Here is teaching materials that shows an example of this from Ghana:

- "WHEN LOCAL GRASS ROOTS FIGHT INJUSTICE"
The Ghana Integrity Initiative fights corruption in all its forms. The Counseling Center urges citizens to reject bribery and report corruption cases.

This video is supplemented by 4 others that make up teaching material for high school students but can be used by many more. (See links below)

Afterword

Many years ago I was admitted to a hospital in Afghanistan with amoeba dysentery. The hospital room with 15 hospitalized men in rickety metal beds was ruled by a chiefly-sized Afghan man with a skullcap and scarf. He sat most of the day tending to the stove while smoking cannabis. You had to buy medicine in the city by yourself, the chief distributed water and food which was mostly overcooked spinach, but it was only to those who gave him a "baksheesh" (gift) in the form of some Afghan coins. Luckily, I had friends who provided me with what I needed so I was able to refuse to accept corruption.

Later we drove through traffic lights at an intersection in Kabul. We were stopped by an police officer who said "Red light, you pay 1,000 Afghans!". We said, "Green light, no Afghans!". He kept going and saying, "You go police station all day!" … Finally, we said "Maybe yellow light, 500 Afghans". He immediately closed the fine book and stuffed the 500 Afghans in his pocket.

Not long ago on an early morning, I was a passenger in a colleague’s car on a highway outside the suburb of Karen in Nairobi, Kenya. Suddenly there was a long queue, and the traffic came to a complete stop. She said it was probably police officers who procured an extra income. And quite right. As we reached a police checkpoint, a police officer stuck a hand in through the window, and my colleague placed some rolled-up notes in his hand, and then we were waved forward.
I asked "Did you have to do this?" She replied “Otherwise we had been waved aside, and in the end we still had to pay. Everyone knows that this is how police officers get a better salary, even though it is denied by the politicians at the top who say they are fighting corruption.”

Karen Blixen Museum, Karen Rd., Nairobi, Kenya

It is difficult not to accept corruption when you are in a pinch in everyday life. But I have come across encouraging examples of how organizations - in addition to grassroots organizations - can create success in denying acceptance of corruption.

For example, an international shipowners' association has drastically reduced the number of situations in which attempts are made to demand corruption money.

It has happened by creating a new culture with the motto: We are just far better at negotiating than those who demand corruption. The method was training of all captains and officers in ways to live up to this motto.

A new tradition for negotiating with port authorities has been created. The captain himself always shows up in full monty when negotiating starts. There are also always other officers present as witnesses, and if that is not enough, then they record on video as documentation of the situation of extortion. They always have a protocol for who to contact immediately, if necessary, as well at their own countries' embassies as high up in the administration of the country whose port they are in.

The fight against corruption is about cultural change, rule of law, and long development processes that never quite ends.

See elaboration in my article from 2019: Fighting corruption – how? (10 minutes reading)

Content:

1. Corruption is a cancerous disease to be eradicated

2. Corruption prevention is one of the bright sides of nationalism

3. How did Denmark become the least corrupt country?

4. Corruption will never be completely abolished - our democratic values are not self-evident

More recommended teaching materials for high school students and others

Five short documentaries about corruption and how it negatively affects society on all levels in a developing country. The example here is Ghana.