International Anti Corruption Day
International Anti Corruption Day 2020: Corruption is one of the most complex social, political and economic events that have affected all countries of the world. People all over the world celebrate International Anti Corruption Day on 9 December to spread awareness against corruption.
History of International Anti Corruption Day
The history of International Anti-Corruption Day begins on 31 October 2003, when the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Since then the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was designated as the Secretariat for the Conference of the States Parties (Resolution 58/4). The United Nations General Assembly then designated December 9 as Anti-Corruption Day, while the conference came into force in December 2005. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the entire global community (UNODC) are key leaders in creating awareness about anti-corruption practices.
Importance of International Anti-Corruption Day
The importance of International Anti-Corruption Day is to advocate about malpractices globally and tell how and why one should avoid it. This day also plays an important role in anti-corruption groups, who spread awareness about this misconduct and share the means and ways to prevent corruption at their workplace. To save the foundations of democratic institutions, there is a need to prevent corruption from deepening its roots as corruption distorts the electoral processes by bending the rule of law. Corruption also affects the economic development of the country in many ways.
According to UN statistics, every year $ 1 trillion is being paid as bribe, while USD 2.6 trillion has been stolen due to corrupt measures. According to the United Nations Development Program, it is estimated that 10 times the amount of money lost in developing countries due to corruption, the funds would otherwise be used in their official developmental assistance.
International Anti-Corruption Day Theme
The theme of International Anti-Corruption Day is ‘United Against Corruption’ which focuses on corruption as one of the biggest obstacles to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will continue to support the 2030 agenda, which is the backbone of the campaign, not only this campaign will also have a youth component. Mobilizing and empowering the youth for justice is the key to ensuring a permanent solution to fight corruption.
The theme of International Anti-Corruption Day 2020 is United Against Corruption. It is believed that corruption is one of life’s biggest obstacles to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The 2020 theme will continue to support the agenda for the next decade, which targets more youth in its campaign. It is expected that by the next decade more and more youth will be empowered to fight against corruption in a sustainable manner.
What is corruption and examples?
How can we identify corruption?
- Audits: traditional and blockchain. An important method used to detect corruption in both public and private sector organizations is the auditing process.
- Citizen reporting.
- Journalism and media reporting.
- Whistle-blowing versus leaking.