Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Bangladesh improves anti-corruption efforts: Global Integrity study

The number one corruption threat facing a majority of countries is the unregulated flow of money into the political process, a new report finds. The report, a major investigative study of 57 countries that includes Bangladesh, was released today by Global Integrity, a Washington-based international nonprofit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends globally.

Important anti-corruption improvements were noted in Bangladesh and Nigeria, the report found. However, all branches of government in Bangladesh remain highly politicized, including the judiciary and the civil service, it said. Commenting on the state of emergency, the report said it only increased government pressure on media outlets that are “regularly being monitored, threatened and intimidated by the personnel of armed forces and various intelligence agencies.”

According to the report, the Chief Justice spoke publicly on the corruption of his sector, estimating it would take 20 years to clean-up the judicial branch. In practice, the Ombudsman only deals with tax concerns.

The report is the product of months of on-the-ground reporting and data gathering by a team of more than 260 in-country journalists and researchers who prepared more than a million words of text and 20,000 data points for their respective countries.

To access the Global Integrity Report: 2008, please visit here. Bangladesh-specific report is available here.

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