Yemen Observer: http://www.yobserver.com

Yemen ranks 14 out of 18 Middle East and North Africa countries in combating corruption, report

Posted in: Reports
Written By: Fares Anam
Article Date: Apr 12, 2008 - 12:13:00 AM
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The World Bank briefing included a training and information session for government employees and public officials about how best to lead the fight against sleaze .
Yemen has been ranked number 131 out of 179 countries around the world and 14 out of 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa regarding counteracting corruption. According to an international report, Yemen has shown signs of improvement in the quality of regulating laws.

These statistics were released during a workshop titled “Country Governance and Anti-Corruption (CGAC)” which was held under the auspices of the World Bank at the Movenpick Hotel on April 7 and 8. The workshop discussed the country’s key development priorities, governing obstacles, and the fight against corruption which hinders the accomplishment of the aforementioned priorities. The workshop also addressed the challenges of development.

The two-day workshop was attended by government officials, Parliament members and representatives of opposition parties in Yemen. A talk of the world report regarding the evaluation of governance and fighting corruption in Yemen accordance to World Standards Measurement was presented during the workshop.

Also discussed among the participants were efforts to improve the governance. They concluded that Yemen   strengthen public administration systems overall and integrate special governance reforms in the mainstream by working in collaboration with the private sector and monitoring the level of progress by the results of governing indicators.

The most important factors for strengthening the demand for good governance are creating and enabling environment for social accountability and promoting a methodology for World Bank projects by directly supporting the strengthening of civil society. 

According to the report that was presented in the workshop and discussed with the participants, the governance identified that it is the manner by which the state exercised its authority to achieve the public interest and service delivery that is key. 

Corruption is the exploitation of public post for personal benefit and corruption is the result of consequences of the weak or bad governance, said the report. The reform of governance is to strengthen the governing capacity and accountability and help in the fight against corruption by addressing the underlying causes.

The report stressed that the government take concrete steps towards the improvement of freedom of expression and freedom of association, assembly and freedom of information supported by the civil society partners and development partners to achieve improvement in the index echo voice and accountability.

“World Bank has been working more than a year in the international initiative to combat corruption, having held several different workshops in Yemen, and our results emerged from these workshops,” said Mr. Mustapha Rouis, World Bank Country Manager.

Rouis said that a document will be prepared for the 26 countries in which the bank operates, including Yemen, dealing with local infrastructure. “The team to create this document has been formed from different sectors in the Bank,” he added.

Mohammad al-Tayeb, member of Shura Council, was among the participants of the workshop and said that this theme is complex and complicated in Yemen, and the projects of World Bank in Yemen are protecting it from corruption. Whenever the bank operates plans in the fighting of corruption, it will reduce it significantly.

“The implementation phase of projects have many types of corruption, and there are many projects stalled by corruption exists in it,” said al-Tayeb. “Yemen has made great strides in the fight against corruption, but the positive results are not visible yet.” He stated that the governance is the only entrance to fight corruption.

Dr. Mohammed al-Mutawakel, Professor of Political Sciences at Sana’a University and Secretary Assistance General for Popular Forces Union, said that we can fight corruption if  a decent governance, popular local councils, effective management, and the rule of law and independence existed.

“Official reports on the fight against corruption have not been given the accuracy of what they offer and use it against society and its institutions,” said Sultan al-Atwani, Secretary General of Nasserite Unionist People’s Organization. “Corruption has become institutionalized corruption and supported by state institutions. The World Bank should not give us data deceptive because the government will use against opposition parties.”

In responding about some questions regarding the report, Rouis said that it is independent research, and the whole world uses this data. There is no fragmenting, and the report prepared by the International Organization for Transparency.