The annual Corruption Perceptions Index, led by anti corruption organisation Transparency International (TI) gave Armenia 107th place among 180 countries.
What does the index say?
– TI uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
– Armenia scores 35. It is an almost imperceptible increase compared to last year where the Republic scored 33.
– Ethiopia, Republic of Macedonia and Vietnam are on equal terms with Armenia.
– According to the index more than two-third of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43.
What about Armenia’s neighbours and top 3?
– Georgia is way ahead taking the 46th place.
– Turkey is ranked 80th, Azerbaijan 122nd and Iran 130th.
– Russia takes the 135th place.
– New Zealand and Denmark rank highest with scores of 89 and 88 respectively while Syria, South Sudan and Somalia rank lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively.
Transparency International general conclusion
– Countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption, while further analysis shows journalists and activists in corrupt countries risking their lives every day in an effort to speak out.
– Further analysis of the results indicates that countries with the least protection for press and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also tend to have the worst rates of corruption.
– The analysis shows that in the last six years, more than 9 out of 10 journalists were killed in countries that score 45 or less on the index.
TI’s anti-corruption recommendations
To struggle against corruption, TI calls the global community to follow 5 recommendations:
– Governments must do more to encourage free speech, independent media, political dissent and an open and engaged civil society.
– Governments should minimise regulations on media and ensure that journalists can work without fear of repression or violence.
– Civil society and governments should promote laws that focus on access to information.
– Activists and governments should take advantage of the momentum generated by the United Nations Sustainable Development
– Goals (SDGs) to advocate and push for reforms at the national and global level.
– Governments and businesses should proactively disclose relevant public interest information in open data formats.
Source: Transparency.org
In photo: Members of the ruling Republic Party Faction of the National Assembly
