Last week, Transparency International held its annual International Anti-Corruption Conference in Washington, where representatives from 140 countries gathered to take stock of the global fight against corruption and explore ways of combating corrupt practices and individuals.
The nonprofit watchdog group said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine renewed efforts by democratic nations to do more to deny safe haven to so-called “kleptocratic assets.” At the same time, the group said the failure of wealthy countries in the G-20 to pass an anti-corruption agency shows there is still much more to crack down on transnational corruption.
Delia Ferreira Rubio, chair of the corruption watchdog Transparency International, told VOA in an interview that global anti-corruption efforts are on the right path, and supporters are expanding awareness and building tools and networks to curb corruption.
The interview is edited for clarity and brevity.
Delia Ferreira Rubio: I think that we have gathered 2,000 from around the world, not only Transparency International fighters against corruption, but many other organizations and individuals and it is clear that this is a collective action effort. The only way to defeat corruption is working together, including public sector, private sector, civil society and citizens.
VOA: So, what did you hear from representatives and from governments? Did you hear reassurances, strong reassurances, that the fight against corruption will be taken on and that there will be action to combat corruption?
Rubio: Yes, we have heard that kind of declarations here before and what we would like to see is action. (Political) Candidates, for instance, talk about ‘I will fight against corruption,’ and then they forget that promise and start doing other things. So, we need action now. We, the civil society, are fed up with commitments and declarations. We need action. We need them to protect those defending integrity, we need them to react when some cracks are there using power (and) influence in order to escape sanctions or things like that. I always say that we have to fight for more information, more integrity, less impunity, less indifference.
Comments are closed.