For those in a developing country who cannot access health care, education or even food and water without paying bribes, corruption is a daily problem. It is well-known that corruption arrests economic development, and it often remains entrenched because a rich and corrupt elite has a strong self-interest in retaining power.

Corruption hits the poorest hardest. One such country where corruption is a regular experience for many is Afghanistan, which ranks near the bottom of the 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index at 180, in joint place with Myanmar.  Afghans are now paying bribes at twice the level of two years ago, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. They often have to pay bribes for services that they are already entitled to such as access to medical care, education and justice in court. The current level of $158 per bribe is equivalent to 37% of the average annual Afghan income. In poll after poll, Afghans citizens don’t rank the Taliban, terrorism or the economy as their highest worry. Corruption is their top concern and tackling it, their most urgent need.

This concern is seen again and again by Transparency International (TI) colleagues who work at a grassroots level in over 50 countries to provide free and confidential legal advice to witnesses and victims of corruption, helping them to pursue their complaints. To date, TI has dealt with more than 100,000 individual cases.

Bribery

Bribery undermines the rule of law and the principle of fair competition and entrenches bad governance in such countries, hindering their efforts to alleviate poverty and often contributing to instability and human rights abuses. In addition, the reinforcement of poor governance in aid-recipient countries undermines the impact of UK aid and taxpayers' value for money. For more information, click here