Corruption Is the Cancer at the Heart of So Many of the Problems We Face Around the World
In the last fortnight we haveseen the stark truth about Fifa. The body governing the game that means so muchto so many around the world has faced appalling allegations that suggestit is absolutely riddled with corruption. Blatter's resignation this week isthe first step on a long road to reform and we will do everything we can,together with our international partners, to help identify and prosecute anyoneguilty of wrongdoing and to clean up the game we love.
But at the heart of Fifa is a lesson about tacklingcorruption that goes far deeper. Corruption at Fifa was not a surprise. Foryears it lined the pockets of those on the inside and was met with little morethan a reluctant sigh. The world shied away from taking on the problem,until some brave British journalists and American lawyers showed that thingsreally could change.
The same is true of corruption the world over. Just aswith Fifa, we know the problem is there, but there is something of aninternational taboo over pointing the finger and stirring up concerns. Atinternational Summits, leaders meet to talk about aid, to discuss how to growour economies and how to keep our people safe. But we just don't talk enoughabout corruption. This has got to change.
Corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many ofthe problems we face around the world today. The migrants drowning in theMediterranean are fleeing from corrupt African states. Our efforts to addressglobal poverty are too often undermined by corrupt governments preventingpeople getting the revenues and benefits of growth that are rightfully theirs. Corruptionundermines the wider global economy too. The World Economic Forum estimatesthat corruption adds 10% to business costs globally, while the World Bankbelieves some $1trillion is paid in bribes every year. Cutting corruption byjust 10% could benefit the global economy by $380billion every year -substantially more than was estimated for the Doha Trade Round. Whilecorruption costs the EU economy alone €120billion every year.
Corruption doesn't just threaten our prosperity, italso undermines our security. Whether it is the abduction of schoolgirls inNigeria or the recruitment of fighters to the Taliban and Islamic State, timeand again ordinary people are drawn to extremist groups partly as areaction to the oppression and corruption of their own governments.
World leaders simply cannot dodge this issueany longer. We have to show some of the same courage that exposed Fifa andbreak the taboo on talking about corruption. I will start tomorrow at the G7 inGermany and I will put corruption at the heart of my agenda at the UnitedNations in September and the G20 in Turkey, culminating with a majoranti-corruption Summit in London next year.
Of course there will be some who will be skepticaland say it is all too difficult. But I believe we should draw confidence fromwhat we have already achieved. When we began the Open Government Partnership,many doubted that it would amount to much. But today 65 ｃountries have madeover 2,000 specific commitments on openness and transparency - from pioneeringcitizens' budgets in Liberia to letting the public audit major governmentprojects in the Philippines.
When I put tax, trade and transparency on the G8agenda for Lough Erne two years ago some said we would never get agreement on aglobal standard for the automatic exchange of information over who pays taxeswhere. But today over 90 ｃountries have agreed to share their tax informationautomatically by the end of 2018, meaning more people will pay the tax that isdue.
While there is further to go, Britain has also takenimportant steps in practicing what we preach. Last December we published ourfirst comprehensive national Anti-Corruption Plan, which Eric Pickles will helptake forwards as my anti-corruption champion. We are establishing a dedicatedteam of National Crime Agency investigators to pursue overseas corruption andwe are strengthening our ability to prosecute professional advisers whofacilitate corruption. We were recently judged by the OECD to be one of onlyfour ｃountries globally which actively pursues bribery of foreign publicofficials. We continue to lead the world on open data and transparency and nextyear we will be the first major ｃountry to establish a public central registryof who really owns companies. This is a ground-breaking step in ｃounteringmoney laundering and corruption - and I will continue to press our overseasterritories and crown dependencies to follow our lead.
So now is the time to build on these foundations. Justas we take the bold step to put fighting corruption at the heart of ourinternational dialogue, so we also need to put fighting corruption at the heartof our international institutions. We need to find ways of giving more supportand encouragement to those in business, civil society and the media who areworking to fight corruption - including by expanding the use of open dataglobally, something that could also play a crucial role in cleaning up football.We need to do more to make the global business environment more hostile tocorruption and to support the investigators and prosecutors who can help bringthe perpetrators to justice.
We also need to secure a fundamental change in the waywe tackle global poverty. As co-chair of the UN High Level Panel I fought hardto put good governance at the heart of the replacement for the MillenniumDevelopment Goals. It took months of negotiation, but there is now a clearinternational consensus for an explicit target on reducing corruption andbribery. If we can galvanize the world to meet it, we really could achieve ourambition of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030.
The world of football is beginning a long road to riditself of corruption and it will take time, courage and determination to seethrough the reforms that Fifa needs. I believe world leaders must show the samecourage and determination to begin a long battle against the corruption thatthreatens our security and prosperity across the world. That will be my missiontomorrow at the G7 and in the months and years ahead.
Article Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/david-cameron/david-cameron-fifa-corruption_b_7524550.html
Image Source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1qEjyEuZx6c/VWdWm53xSDI/AAAAAAAAJ40/9Pr6VCypTjQ/s1600/FIFA%2BCorruption.jpeg
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Fortnight (n.) ~ a period of 2 weeks
2. Appalling (adj.) ~ awful or terrible
3. Shy away (idiom) ~ avoid having to dealwith
4. Extremist (n.) ~ a person who holdsextreme or fanatical political or religious views
5. Dodge (v.) ~ avoid something or someoneby a sudden quick movement
6. Culminate (v.) ~ reach a climax or pointof highest development
7. Skeptical(adj.) ~ not easily convinced
8. Perpetrator (n.) ~ a person who commits anillegal, criminal, or evil acts
QUESTIONS FORDISCUSSION:
1. Tell me what you know about the corruptionin FIFA.
2. Do you think there is a foolproof way tostop corruption in the government and in different international organization?If yes, give suggestions. If no, discuss the reason.
3. Why is it that mostpeople just ignore corruption even when it’s very obvious that it’s happeningaround them?
