British Ambassador to Bucharest Paul Brummell posted on Twitter a link to an article by Prime Minister David Cameron about corruption, posted on the Huffington Post blog. The article resonates in Romania as elsewhere, wrote Paul Brummel on Twitter.
Prime Minister Cameron about corruption’s threat to the prosperity and security, writes Ambassador on Twitter, posting a link to the British Prime Minister’s article entitled ‘Corruption Is the Cancer at the Heart of So Many of the Problems We Face Around the World’.
‘Corruption Is the Cancer at the Heart of So Many of the Problems We Face Around the World’
By David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
“In the last fortnight we have seen the stark truth about Fifa. The body governing the game that means so much to so many around the world has faced appalling allegations that suggest it is absolutely riddled with corruption. Blatter’s resignation this week is the first step on a long road to reform and we will do everything we can, together with our international partners, to help identify and prosecute anyone guilty of wrongdoing and to clean up the game we love.
But at the heart of Fifa is a lesson about tackling corruption that goes far deeper. Corruption at Fifa was not a surprise. For years it lined the pockets of those on the inside and was met with little more than a reluctant sigh. The world shied away from taking on the problem, until some brave British journalists and American lawyers showed that things really could change.
The same is true of corruption the world over. Just as with Fifa, we know the problem is there, but there is something of an international taboo over pointing the finger and stirring up concerns. At international Summits, leaders meet to talk about aid, to discuss how to grow our economies and how to keep our people safe. But we just don’t talk enough about corruption. This has got to change.
Corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many of the problems we face around the world today. The migrants drowning in the Mediterranean are fleeing from corrupt African states. Our efforts to address global poverty are too often undermined by corrupt governments preventing people getting the revenues and benefits of growth that are rightfully theirs. Corruption undermines the wider global economy too. The World Economic Forum estimates that corruption adds 10% to business costs globally, while the World Bank believes some $1trillion is paid in bribes every year. Cutting corruption by just 10% could benefit the global economy by $380billion every year – substantially more than was estimated for the Doha Trade Round. While corruption costs the EU economy alone €120billion every year.
Corruption doesn’t just threaten our prosperity, it also undermines our security. Whether it is the abduction of schoolgirls in Nigeria or the recruitment of fighters to the Taliban and Islamic State, time and again ordinary people are drawn to extremist groups partly as a reaction to the oppression and corruption of their own governments. (…) Just as we take the bold step to put fighting corruption at the heart of our international dialogue, so we also need to put fighting corruption at the heart of our international institutions. We need to find ways of giving more support and encouragement to those in business, civil society and the media who are working to fight corruption – including by expanding the use of open data globally, something that could also play a crucial role in cleaning up football. We need to do more to make the global business environment more hostile to corruption and to support the investigators and prosecutors who can help bring the perpetrators to justice. (…)
Excerpts