Why Fighting Corruption Matters In Pandemic
By: Saliha Ayaz
Tags: Compliance, Sanctions, Corruption, Corruption And Bribery, Anti Money Laundering

Corruption In Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Corruption and emergencies in the country feed off each other, creating lousy governance and more profound crises. There are budgets that states keep for dealing with emergencies. In a country where there is almost no corruption when the government encounters an emergency, it spends from this budget and tries to deal with the emergency.

In countries with high corruption, this budget may have already been used. Corruption is ultimately the abuse of power. Using the country’s budget for personal interests is one of them.

Apart from using the budget, states can also create emergency funds and misuse this budget. As a result, the presence of corruption in crises affecting countries affects the public very severely and does not help to get out of this emergency.

As it is known, COVID-19 can be given as an example of the emergencies mentioned above. The worldwide handling of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the need for integrity in managing crises.

According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), countries with the COVID-19 pandemic;

They divert funds from essential services such as health care, leaving countries worldwide with a public health crisis.

They are not transparent in the allocation of resources. This behavior weakens the effectiveness of crisis intervention.

Human rights and democratic norms may be violated when managing the COVID-19 pandemic in countries that cannot control corruption.

Underfunding of Essential Services

When corruption is committed, funds are usually obtained from essential public services such as health and education. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the negative effects of using these funds for self-interest. The disruptions experienced in the service sector during the pandemic prove the consequences of corruption.

During the pandemic, many governments were unable to provide the necessary healthcare to their citizens. But, of course, the health sector was not the only factor affected by the pandemic. People could not open their businesses for months and continued to pay rent. As a result of the scenario prepared by the governments for the possible economic crisis, there had to be a fund that was on the side.

Emergencies can be an excellent excuse to present transparency and anti-corruption measures as a barrier to swift and effective government intervention. However, transparency is key to proper and efficient management of emergencies, as it helps ensure that resources reach their intended beneficiaries.

COVID-19 and Public Recruitment

Covid-19 has also confirmed the importance of transparency in public recruitment processes. In public recruitment, it is essential that competent people are prioritized and that cheating is not done. Confidence in the competence of public employees, such as health workers, is critical in pandemic days.

However, the supply of drugs and supplies is one of the most corrupt areas. The government can be unfair by buying these goods from companies with close links with no previous manufacturing experience. To prevent such situations, transparency in public spaces is the right thing to do. Some potential measures include: allocating resources to conduct instant checks on the quality of goods and services, encouraging civil society and journalists to monitor procurement processes, and announcing detailed post-audit audits of transactions during the emergency.

Violation of Human Rights & Democratic Norms

Countries with high corruption are likely to violate human rights and democratic norms as part of emergency responses. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index 2020, governments have violated democratic standards in the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, countries with higher levels of corruption tend to be the worst perpetrators of violations of human rights and democratic standards in their response to COVID-19, according to the report.

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