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Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System --------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 02 Apr 2007 Title: Forum seeks to fight corruption and identify its causes --------------------------------------------------------------- By Themba Gadebe, tel: (012) 314-2267 Johannesburg - Delegates have gathered at the United Nations Global Forum V to find the root causes of corruption and devise ways to combat this practice. The three day conference, which kicked off Monday, is being convened under the theme: "Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity." The Global Forum has an obligation to understand and fight corruption in all its forms and to create a new world order that will be responsive to the needs and aspirations of the poor, said President Thabo Mbeki. Analysing the underlying factors behind corruption, President Mbeki told delegates the practice is not necessarily caused by poverty. "The poor are so excluded from the levers of power that they do not have the possibility to extricate themselves out of poverty by corrupt means." In many instances, explained the president, corruption serves as a sufficient condition for further entrenchment of poverty and negates the potential for development. He cited examples of this, from many cases where corruption had robbed communities of their right to homes, food transport, education, health, clean water and many other essential services. There could be no effective global anti-corruption strategy, President Mbeki said, unless it is linked to an agenda that promotes sustainable development in favour of the poor. "We are gathered here from all corners of the globe because together we understand the simple and obvious fact that corruption benefits the few and harms the majority," Mr Mbeki said, going on decry the negative effect corruption has on world markets and democratic ideals. The president called for a society which is governed by value systems based on the principle and practice of human solidarity, caring and compassion towards one's neighbour. Society, he said, should emphasise the principle and practice of sharing, rather than the notion of everybody for himself or herself adding that the anti-corruption discourse is inseparable from the broader goals of socio-economic development. "In 2000, our country joined the rest of the international community of nations to adopt the United Nations Millenium Declaration and its eight Millenium Development Goals. "We agreed to spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject of dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty," said Mr Mbeki. The Global Forum should therefore be used constructively to strengthen the foundation needed to rid the world of the ravages of poverty, disease and underdevelopment. This could be achieved by promoting sustainable growth and development, as well as ecological and environmental sustainability. "We must address the glaring unequal division of wealth at the global, regional and national levels. "This we must do [this] with the necessary sense of urgency and a common resolve to act together to end the circumstance that billions across the globe are still condemned to lead lives that are solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," said President Mbeki. - BuaNews |
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