UN's Ban urges fight against the 'cancer of corruption'

[News_Editor]

UN's Ban urges fight against the 'cancer of corruption'

2011-12-10 07:16:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called on leaders around the world to fight the 'cancer of corruption.' Friday also marks the International Anti-Corruption Day.

Ban said corruption affects all countries in the world, undermining social progress and breeding inequality and injustice. "All of us have a responsibility to take action against the cancer of corruption," he said.

"When desperately needed development funds are stolen by corrupt individuals and institutions, poor and vulnerable people are robbed of the education, health care and other essential services," said the Secretary-General.

This year, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN Development Program (UNDP) have developed a joint global campaign, focusing on how corruption hinders efforts to achieve the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and impacts education, health, justice, democracy, prosperity and development.

"Although the poor may be marginalized by corruption, they will not be silenced," Ban added, noting that people came together in several countries this year to rise up against their governments and demand action to combat 'crimes against democracy.'

Ban said the 'Arab Spring' protests have triggered changes on the international scene that could barely have been imagined just months ago.

While highlighting the efforts of the UN in helping countries combat corruption as part of its broader, system-wide campaign to help bolster democracy and good governance, Ban also urged all governments that have not yet done so to ratify the UN Convention against Corruption, which he called a 'powerful' tool in the fight against the scourge.

The Secretary-General went on to call on businesses to also adopt anti-corruption measures in line with the convention, noting that the private sector, too, stands to gain enormously from effective action.

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