KABUL (SW): The Transparency International has published its annual 'Corruption Perception Index' which shows significant improvement in Afghanistan.
The war-torn country has jumped from the third most corrupt country in the world to the 8th in just a year. It is worth noticing that the Kabul government is pursuing a rigorous plan to curb graft at all levels. According to the TI, no country got close to a perfect score in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
Over two-thirds of the 176 countries and territories in this year's index fall below the midpoint of the scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The global anti-graft watchdog noted this year’s results highlight the connection between corruption and inequality, which feed off each other to create a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth.
With an exception of Afghanistan, more countries declined than improved in this year's results, showing the urgent need for committed action to thwart corruption. Afghanistan has secured four additional points on the positive side to leave behind Somalia, South Sudan, North Korea, Syria, Yeman, Sudan and Libya to secure a relatively better place (169th from the top and 8th from the bottom). Placed in the Asia Pacific region, the country was labeled among the top three corrupt nations for quite a while, and it is the first time Afghanistan has come out from the worst three.
"In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity.”José Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International.
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