The ONE group says money lost because of
corruption would otherwise be spent on school and medicine
An estimated $1tn
(£600bn) a year is being taken out of poor countries and millions of
lives are lost because of corruption, according to campaigners.
A report by the anti-poverty organisation One says much of the
progress made over the past two decades in tackling extreme poverty
has been put at risk by corruption and crime.
Corrupt activities include the use of phantom firms and money
laundering.
The report blames corruption for 3.6 million deaths every year.
If action were taken to end secrecy that allows corruption to
thrive - and if the recovered revenues were invested in health - the
group calculates that many deaths could be prevented in low-income
countries.
Corruption is overshadowing natural
disasters and disease as the scourge of poor countries, the
report says
One describes its findings as a "trillion dollar scandal".
"Corruption inhibits private investment, reduces economic growth,
increases the cost of doing business and can lead to political
instability," the report says.
"But in developing countries, corruption is a killer. When
governments are deprived of their own resources to invest in health
care, food security or essential infrastructure, it costs lives and
the biggest toll is on children."
The report says that if corruption was eradicated in sub-Saharan
Africa:
- Education would be provided to an additional 10 million
children per year
- Money would be available to pay for an additional 500,000
primary school teachers
- Antiretroviral drugs for more than 11 million people with
HIV/Aids would be provided
One is urging G-20 leaders meeting in Australia in November to
take various measures to tackle the problem including making
information public about who owns companies and trusts to prevent
them being used to launder money and conceal the identity of
criminals.
It is advocating the introduction of mandatory reporting laws for
the oil, gas and mining sectors so that countries' natural resources
"are not effectively stolen from the people living above them".
It is recommending action against tax evaders "so that developing
countries have the information they need to collect the taxes they
are due" and more open government so that people can hold
authorities accountable for the delivery of essential services.
BBC © 2014
The BBC is not
responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-29040793