Integrating Human Rights in the Anti-Corruption Agenda - The ICHRP

Furthermore, in many parts of the world, social welfare programmes are used
by politicians to maintain or develop their support networks. Through arbitrary
allocation of resources, they can favour certain groups and discriminate against
others. In such circumstances, characterised by dependency and illegitimate
demands, the patron provides protection, services and favours to his “clients” in
exchange for social, political and electoral support. In the absence of effective
service provision by the state, people in need are trapped in dependency
because it is the only way they have to obtain essential services.
In public service delivery, extortion can take many forms. For example, to be
assigned to a social programme, potential beneficiaries may be expected to
turn over part of the assistance they receive, which may drastically reduce their
income. Sometimes beneficiaries are forced to perform humiliating or servile
tasks in exchange for registration in a social programme. In the case of women,
access to social programmes may be mediated by sex.
Gender is a crucial issue. Clientelism is not gender neutral. The incidence
of (physical, psychological, emotional and sexual) violence in the context of
clientelistic relations reveals the double burden (patriarchy and dependence)
that women living in poverty face in their search to secure a living and meet
their basic survival needs. For this reason, in many parts of the world women
and girls tend to bear the burden of corruption most severely because they lack
access to resources, are marginalised from decision-making, lack voice and
participation and are ultimately the primary users of essential services. 61
Anti-corruption organisations have given much attention to corruption in the
context of clientelism because it prevents people from accessing essential
services to which they are entitled. Some have developed programmes that
establish complaints systems and citizen monitoring schemes. The Water
Integrity Network, for example, convenes official and non-governmental
stakeholders to support anti-corruption activities in the water sector by sharing
best practice, capacity-building, joint advocacy, etc. 62
Notwithstanding this wealth of experience, the inclusion of a human rights perspective
could be particularly helpful to anti-corruption advocates working on the provision
of services because human rights organisations have considerable experience in
promoting state obligations and state accountability with regard to health, housing,
education, water and sanitation and other economic and social rights. Under human
rights law, states have accepted a wide range of obligations to provide or regulate
public services that deliver social, economic and cultural rights.
Were human rights accountability mechanisms and state obligations to be
applied in anti-corruption programmes, this would clearly enhance their
potential impact. In addition, human rights law sets out a range of standards
61 Transparency International, 2010.
62 See www.waterintegritynetwork.net.
50 Integrating Human Rights in the Anti-Corruption Agenda: Challenges, Possibilities and Opportunities