Finland Times

 

File Photo Lehtikuva.

Finland ranked second among the least corrupt countries in the world as per the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International published on Wednesday.

 

Another Nordic country, Denmark, secured the top position on the list for the consecutive second year with a score of 91, followed by Finland (score 90), Sweden (89), New Zealand (88), the Netherlands (87) and Norway (87).

 

Somalia and North Korea jointly landed at the bottom of the list with a score of eight, followed by Afghanistan (score 11), Sudan (12) and South Sudan (15).

 

These five countries were also at the bottom of the list in the last two years.

 

Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries on the 2015 index scored below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), said a TI press release.

 

Top performers share key characteristics: high levels of press freedom; access to budget information so the public knows where money comes from and how it is spent; high levels of integrity among people in power; and judiciaries that don’t differentiate between rich and poor, and that are truly independent from other parts of government.

 

In addition to conflict and war, poor governance, weak public institutions like police and the judiciary, and a lack of independence in the media characterise the lowest ranked countries.

 

File Photo Lehtikuva.

The year 2015 showed that people working together can succeed in the battle against corruption.

 

Although corruption is still rife globally, more countries improved their scores in the 2015 edition of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index than declined.

 

Yet in places like Guatemala, Sri Lanka and Ghana, citizen activists in groups and on their own worked hard to drive out the corrupt, sending a strong message that should encourage others to take decisive action in 2016.

 

Corruption can be beaten working together. To stamp out the abuse of power, bribery and shed light on secret deals, citizens must together tell their governments they have had enough.

 

“The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a blight around the world. But 2015 was also a year when people again took to the streets to protest corruption.

 

People across the globe sent a strong signal to those in power: it is time to tackle grand corruption,” said José Ugaz, Chair of the Transparency International.

 

Grand corruption is the abuse of high-level power that benefits the few at the expense of the many, and causes serious and widespread harm to individuals and society. It often goes unpunished.

 

The Corruption Perceptions Index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption. Countries’ scores can be helped by open government where the public can hold leaders to account, while a poor score is a sign of prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that do not respond to citizens’ needs.