World Anti-Corruption Day

The 9 December is World Anti-Corruption Day. Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. It undermines democratic institutions, slows economic development and contributes to governmental instability.

A couple of weeks ago Transparency International published its latest Corruptions Perceptions Index which measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide. The scores range from 100 (very clean) to 0 (very corrupt). Honduras scored 29 and was ranked 126 out of a total of 174 countries.

But the current Honduran government is working to address this problem. Last week the Deputy Ambassador Andrew Tate attended an event in Tegucigalpa sponsored by the British Embassy that aims to improve transparency in the extractive industries sector through an initiative known as the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).  Here is Andy to explain more:

“EITI very simply aims to reduce corruption by ensuring that information about all revenues received by government for activities in this sector and how that money is spent is made publicly available. Through a tripartite approach involving the government, the private sector and civil society such payments are monitored and audited to ensure that they are used for the benefit of all society.

Honduras was accepted as an EITI candidate country in May 2013 and has been working to achieve compliant status since then. The British Embassy invited a number of experts from Peru and Guatemala (the only two EITI compliant countries in Latin America) to visit Honduras and ran a workshop for the Honduran experts on 4 December. The aim was to share knowledge and experience to help Honduras achieve compliant status more quickly. The event was well attended and is an excellent example of the UK working with Honduras on a specific area to increase transparency, support the country’s chances of attracting investment and improve the quality of life for its citizens.”