Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

Urban crime and violence: Conditions and trends
59
Corruption
Although it comes in many forms, corruption is generally
classified as a crime against public order. There is no universally
accepted definition of corruption; but it has been
summarized as the abuse of public power for personal
gain. 67 It constitutes a growing threat to human security and
plays a significant role in urban development, planning,
management, and programme design and policy. Corruption
may be found at the ‘grand scale’, penetrating the highest
policy-making organs of government, or it may be seen at
‘petty’ or street-scale levels, which involve day-to-day public
and social transactions. It often involves soliciting, giving or
taking bribes and is sometimes categorized by levels of ‘infiltration’
within the public sector. While grand corruption has
the broadest impacts on societies, corruption in any form
helps to destroy public confidence in the fairness of government,
the rule of law and economic stability. 68 There are
several measures of corruption. Among the most widely used
are the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the <strong>Global</strong>
Corruption Barometer (GCB), both developed by
Transparency International. Each is discussed briefly below.
■ The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)
The Corruption Perceptions Index calculates a score on the
perceived levels of corruption in a given country, based on
the responses of business people and analysts around the
world, including local experts resident in the country being
evaluated. The CPI has a range of between 10 (highly clean)
and 0 (highly corrupt). A higher score means less perceived
corruption. The map in Figure 3.13 shows the ranking for
158 countries. It indicates that the top ten ranked countries
(least corrupt countries) are wealthy European and Oceanic
nations, headed by Iceland. The bottom ten ranked countries
consist largely of poor and developing nations of Eastern
Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, with Bangladesh and
Chad being the lowest ranked. 71
■ The <strong>Global</strong> Corruption Barometer (GCB)
The <strong>Global</strong> Corruption Barometer provides an indication of
the extent and nature of corruption from the perspective of
ordinary people or the general public around the world.
Findings from the 2005 GCB based on a survey of 54,260
people in 69 countries noted that political parties, parliaments,
the police and the judicial system were the most
corrupt. 70 Figure 3.14 illustrates the distribution of
responses among sectors in this regard. Religious bodies,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and registry and
permit services are considered the least corrupt sectors.
Although the responses vary by region, 62 per cent of
the countries surveyed reported that political parties were
the most corrupt sector. This trend has increased since
2004, when 58 per cent of nations saw political parties as
the most corrupt. As Table 3.2 indicates, when considered
on a regional basis, Asian, Western European and Latin
American citizens saw their political parties as the most
corrupt, while African respondents judged their police to be
the sector most corrupt. In Central and Eastern Europe,
political parties and the police tied for first place as the most
corrupt sectors.
Box 3.1 Violence against women in South Africa
South Africa has one of the highest incidences of violence against women (and children) in the
world. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data on crimes reported by the
police indicate that 123.84 rapes per 100,000 individuals were committed in 2000. This is one of
the saddest and most alarming manifestations of violence in a society generally regarded as
traumatized and wracked by violent crime and (very often) violent interpersonal and public
behaviour. Although the causes of the high levels of violence in South African society are
manifold and complex, they broadly relate to the country’s violent history of colonialism and
apartheid. One can also safely assume that the high levels of poverty and unemployment in the
country and the resultant economic hardships and frustrations add to the already volatile social
and political atmosphere. In addition, patriarchal attitudes, which we share with other societies,
make it particularly difficult for women to attain economic independence. As a result, many
women are unable to permanently leave their abusive partners, thus failing to protect
themselves and their children from physical, sexual, emotional, economic and other forms of
abuse.
Source: Zambuko and Edwards, 2007
Petty corruption in the way of bribery is widespread,
but affects poorer countries more significantly than richer
ones, with some families in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria
reporting that they spend at least the equivalent of 20 per
cent of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita on bribery
‘taxes’. Of special significance to urban dwellers are the
bribes paid for services that they would normally be entitled
to receive since they tend to be larger recipients of services
than rural residents. Figure 3.15 shows the variation in
service bribery among surveyed nations. Former socialist
nations such as Lithuania, Romania, Russia and Ukraine tend
to top the lists.
Corruption is closely linked with organized crime.
Indeed, the two have been characterized as ‘two sides of the
same coin’. 71 Research on the connections between corruption
and organized crime suggests that socio-economic
factors such as poverty, unemployment, societal wealth,
income inequality, the pattern of public investment that
benefits citizens’ quality of life, levels of judicial independence,
independence of civil servants, and the strength of
Box 3.2 Street families and street children in Nairobi
Petty corruption in
the way of bribery is
widespread, but
affects poorer
countries more
significantly than
richer ones
One of the major challenges facing urban development in Kenya is the growing number of street
families. It is estimated there were approximately 115 street children in 1975. By 1990 this
number had grown to 17,000 and by 1997 over 150,000. 72 In 2001, the number was estimated
to be 250,000 street children countrywide. 73 With older street dwellers included, the total
population of street persons was estimated at approximately 300,000. The bulk of such street
dwellers are found in Nairobi, which at present has approximately 60,000 street persons. Street
families live permanently or part time in the central business district area streets, bonded by a
common identity and involved in organized street survival activities within given operational
‘territories’. These families operate in environments that lack protection and supervision
mechanisms available in normal social settings.
The survival activities include begging, albeit forcefully, pick pocketing and stealing, child
prostitution, and the use and trafficking of drugs. Consequently, the public generally perceives
street persons as criminals, thieves, drug addicts and eyesores that should be removed from the
streets. Citizens feel that most ills are the responsibility of criminals who were previously street
children. The public has no mechanisms to respond to the manifestations and causes of crime
by street children – hence, their fear and over-generalizations.
Source: Masese, 2007