Media Release Corruption has become Afghanistan’s second biggest problem Bribery has doubled in the last 4 years reaching close to $2bn Access to services has improved but citizens are forced to pay bribes in return Wednesday, May 28, 2014 – Kabul: Integrity Watch Afghanistan released the National Corruption Survey report today revealing that corruption is on the rise in Afghanistan. The survey, released every two years, shows that after insecurity corruption has become the second biggest concern for Afghans. The report also indicates that there is a strong link between corruption and insecurity. Bribery which is the most common form of corruption has nearly doubled in last four years reaching to close to two billion dollars. Judiciary and police are seen as most corruption institutions while Ministry of Education is 3rd in the row. In general, citizens’ access to public services has improved but citizens have to pay bribes for access to many public services. The survey has found that financial burden of corruption on households has increased. Corruption, by and large, remains institutionalized and there is a high confidence in bribes to get things done. 34% of respondents whose households had paid a bribe said that they were highly certain the bribe would help them obtain the service. Speaking at the event, Dr. Yama Torabi, Executive Director of Integrity Watch said, “The high degree of certainty that corruption allows access to public services is a sign of institutionalization of corruption.” Corruption has become the second biggest concern for Afghans. In the 2012 survey, respondents thought the three biggest problems were insecurity (51% of respondents), unemployment (16% of respondents), and corruption (13% of respondents). In the 2014 survey, however, equal percentages of respondents (18% each) ranked corruption and unemployment as the biggest problem in the country after insecurity (45%). Bribery which is the most common form of corruption has nearly doubled in last four years. A total of about $1942m were paid in bribes in 2014 compared to $1254m in 2012. The number of adults who paid a bribe has gone from 1.6m to nearly 2m, a 25% increase in participation in bribery in two years. While the average bribe rose from $190 in 2012 to $240 in 2014, the average number of bribes paid per year has remained unchanged. The justice institutions and the police are viewed as the two most corrupt public institutions. In comparison to 2012, both the courts and the Ministry of Interior remain the top two most corrupt institutions. The Ministry of Interior showed slight improvement with a reduction of 3%. The Ministry of Education, however, showed a setback and increased perception of corruption since it became the third most corrupt institution in 2014 while it was the 7th in 2012. Ethnicity, personal and family relationships are slowly becoming more important. The rising importance of relationships and connections (ethnic and other relationships) for access to the state has resulted in the increased acceptance of respondents to use connections for securing jobs.
In general, citizens’ Access to public services has improved. A clear majority of the respondents reported to have access to at least one public service. The most accessible public service was primary and secondary education (accessible to 92%), followed by access to security provided by police (with 88% accessibility rate). Nevertheless, respondents had to pay bribes for access to many public services as a result of which the financial burden of corruption on households increased from 52% in 2012 to 57% in 2014. RECOMMENDATIONS Integrity Watch’s recommendations based on the research findings include the following: Access to information is crucial to the fight against corruption. The government should pass a strong access to information law. Addressing corruption in the judicial system and the police needs to become a policy priority for the government. The government should facilitate involvement of civil society in court hearings while civil society needs to take a proactive approach in this regard. Simplifying and streamlining administrative procedures for obtaining public goods and services is necessary for reducing petty corruption. Simplifying administrative procedures, citizens’ understanding of bureaucratic procedures needs to be improved through media and public awareness campaigns. Government would need to investigate the reported cases of corruption seriously and prosecute corrupt officials in order to encourage public participation in reporting and fighting corruption. The assets and incomes of the public officials, particularly those most prone to bribery, should be assessed on regular basis, and such information should be made public and verified. Both the government and civil society groups should encourage local communities to monitor decision‐ making processes, track budgets at the village and district levels, and monitor the quality of the actual services delivered. FOR MORE DETAILS AND MEDIA CONTACTS Please contact Mirwais Nasery, Senior Communication Officer at Integrity Watch Afghanistan via
[email protected] email address or 0785431054 mobile number. ABOUT THE SURVEY National Corruption Survey is carried out by Integrity Watch Afghanistan every two years to measure both perceptions and experiences of corruption. This study is the continuation of Integrity Watch’s biannual surveys, which builds upon the 2007, 2010 and 2012 waves. The study depicts trends over a seven‐year period and provides a more in‐depth insight into and analysis of Afghan experiences of corruption. A total of 7,798 respondents (with an equal number of men and women) were interviewed. Respondents were selected from all 34 provinces of the country.A minimum of 176 interviews were done in each province. Data collection was completed between August and November 2013. Please visit http://www.iwaweb.org/ncs to download the full report. ABOUT INTEGRITY WATCH AFGHANISTAN Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) was founded in October 2005 and established itself as an independent civil society organization in 2006. IWA’s aim is to evolve into a reference actor related to understanding, analyzing and acting for transparency, accountability and anti‐corruption issues. The mission of Integrity Watch Afghanistan is to put corruption under the spotlight by increasing transparency, integrity and accountability in Afghanistan through the provision of policy‐oriented research, development of training tools and facilitation of policy dialogue.
