Poverty and Corruption
By Colleen Marshall
Originally published in The Officer, March/April 2009.  Republished with permission.

PRIYA was five years old. She dreamed of going to school next year. When admission dates were announced in August, Priya's mother dressed in the best clothes she could find to take her excited daughter for her entrance exam. Then they waited for the result. A whole year later, thousands of children like Priya from the poorest classes were still waiting to be admitted to grade one.

Outcries and protests were silenced. When the criteria for school admission was made public it spelled out a points system for the parents' occupations - priority was given to those in government service and so on down through the occupations. Children of daily wage earners, like Priya's father, had no hope of earning a place in school without paying a huge under-the-table sum of money.
What keeps the poor poor? In developing countries poverty will never be eliminated unless corruption is exposed and zero tolerance becomes the policy. Yet, surprisingly, none of the Millennium Development Goals tackles the subject.  None talks about transparency.  None mentions integrity or accountability. None addresses a major cause of Third World poverty - corruption at central and local government level.  Is it any surprise that at the halfway mark there's been a disappointing lack of progress toward eliminating poverty despite the massive budget spent?
     Why do countries having billions of dollars poured in annually from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund not look any more developed decades down the track? Why do millions of people still exist in wretched poverty?
Having observed at first hand the great divide between rich and poor, certain conclusions become apparent to me. Is it coincidence that developing countries are ranked among the 'most corrupt' in the global Corruption Perception Index?
It's a noble goal to 'eliminate poverty'. It's top of the MDG list of eight goals, and high on some Salvation Army agendas.  But without a bold strategy to address corruption, poverty will always flourish.  It’s like an industry.  Excuse the word. Poverty is partly driven by corruption; corruption is partly driven by greed.
Any serious attempt at reducing or eliminating poverty has first to understand the insidiousness of bribery and corruption. We can sell all we have and give to the poor, but the bald fact is that money alone can never help anyone trapped in poverty if their nation's government is corrupt.
     The poor may step up from a mud-and-straw one-room hut to a clay brick hut big enough to divide with a curtain. They may get basic access to electricity and sanitation, even if it means one latrine between 12 scattered families. They may get a communal well and go from one meal a day to two; from a few grams of meat or chicken once a month to a spoonful twice a month. In small ways, poverty is reducing for that family, but they will still cook over firewood. They will still all sleep together on a mat on the floor. They may still have to trek to fetch water.
     Corruption denies poor communities their basic human rights and affects the whole development process. A quick internet search of 'links between poverty and corruption' results in more than 300,000 articles, theses, working papers and writings on the subject.
In the global corruption barometer findings, poor people consistently pay more bribes than other income groups to attend schools, receive medical services, or when they seek police assistance. Time and again, investigative journalism finds that when poor people make a complaint to the police it is rarely recorded, when they seek medical help from a government agency they are often scorned and turned away, when they seek admission to school the process is frequently halted till the bribes are paid.
The poor are victimised all the way. They are locked into debt bondage. Their cries are silenced. Corruption drains international and domestic resources allocated to poverty reduction.
     The World Bank was established in 1944 but it was only in 2007 that a Governance and Anti Corruption strategy for increased transparency was put into place. The UN Convention against corruption came into force only in 2005 with 140 signatory countries.
Transparency International has been active for 10 years, challenging top-level public and private sector organisations to address political and administrative levels of corruption. It states: 'Initiatives are needed to address the disabling environment that disenfranchises the poor in their own fight against corruption.'
I was first exposed to corruption when I moved from New Zealand - a country consistently ranked in the top three 'least corrupt' to live and work in - to a country then ranked 'most corrupt'. The world view of the two populations was poles apart.
     The very day that year's global Corruption Perception Index was announced, a cutting from a newspaper in provincial New Zealand arrived in the post detailing a list of 'found items' handed into the local police station — including a 20 cent coin. Our assistant officer was totally incredulous - not just about the 20 cent coin but that anyone would hand anything they'd found to the police. In their country, the police were the least trusted public servant group in that society. Unfortunately it's the same in many of the poorest countries.
Corruption keeps poor people poor. Their lives are accorded no value, they are seen as disposable, worthless, and are treated despicably. Where poverty exists, that society will abound with men and women's inhumanity toward their fellow human beings. The most vulnerable may be trafficked into slavery for labour or sex, and then trashed mercilessly on the scrapheap when they're no longer a saleable commodity. Their hopes and dreams of a better life, of escaping the poverty cycle are brutally crushed. Their haunted eyes are full of pain.
     The powerful and influential live lives of luxury at the expense of the poor, for whom the bulk of aid and grant money is directed. It is creamed at every level until what is finally received are a few watery drops. The work may get done; the schools, roads and bridges might get built, but too often with substandard materials obtained at a fraction of the cost of available funding. Deals are cunningly manipulated and covered up until someone starts digging around, or the donor agencies arrive, or the audits are called for. All too often, unscrupulous dealings go unchallenged, accountability shifts uncomfortably for a little while, and ultimately no action is taken. Shoulders are shrugged, the corrupt dealers already have their next pickings lined up, and the poor become poorer.
     There are those who say it's not in a developing country's interest to have its poverty eliminated. There would be no more sympathy, no more crying 'poor, poor', no more multi-million dollar aid grants coming their way. No more extravagant perks to prop up the luxury lives of unscrupulous corporate bosses or public servants. Instead there'd be a future of hard work and responsibility - not a palatable option for the dishonest who are accustomed to easy money. So the poor have their value after all. They pull the emotional heartstrings and open the floodgates of aid. The poorer the better. In the eyes of some, some developing countries seem to have a hidden agenda - in order to keep roping in the aid, people must be kept in poverty. There are no scruples. The powers-that-be seem to have no genuine interest in becoming 'developed'.
     In developing countries, poverty and corruption cannot be separated. You can't take action on one and do nothing about the other. Eliminating poverty requires the courage to confront and expose corruption and bribery. The stakes could be high. There'll be a price to pay, and the risks should not be downplayed. To fight for justice will certainly invoke opposition.  Unfortunately, corruption is not only rife 'out there' in the big corporations. Do we dare acknowledge the danger that it could infiltrate our own organisation as well? The danger comes in many guises - commissions, favours, gratuities, facilitation payments. All too easily, resources can dwindle and disappear.
     We should not be afraid of a reality check in this area. Intentional strategies to challenge bribery and corruption and put zero tolerance policies in place will give strength where there has been weakness and bring about blessing. Dialogue toward this could happen at international and local levels. A committed strategy toward financial independence for grant-assisted territories is a starting point with accountability and transparency policies clearly spelled out.
     On a personal level we're presented with an ethical dilemma. The Scriptures contain many injunctions to care for the poor, and we dare not fail them by withholding our hand. How do we do justly and love mercy while walking humbly with our God (Micah 6:7}?
We start where we are: honesty and integrity in even the smallest matters; in money matters, declaring all income, no inflated expense accounts; in recording statistics; fidelity in relationships; holy living; transparency and accountability.
     Are there classes of people/occupations or races whom we think of as inferior to ourselves? Do we ever use our position or rank to intimidate or control others, lord it over them, make others feel small? Do we work to see others empowered in their lives, or do we prefer our status as 'boss', therefore subconsciously disempowcr others or keep them down? How do we fight corruption in our goal to eliminate poverty? It seems every week the media uncovers new atrocities with millions more voiceless victims. It's overwhelming. It's a tough question that won't go away. Our social justice department is already active in this area.
The number of refugees who have either fled their homelands or are internally displaced is in the millions.
In what ways is poverty in developed countries different from poverty in developing countries, and what strategies are needed for its alleviation? Are there common factors such as debt bondage? Are there hidden agendas? If corruption isn't draining the available resources, what is?
     The poor where you live may have vastly different needs from the poor where I live. But let's open the conversation and by God's Spirit courageously take steps to transform someone's world where we are.

Colleen Marshall, a New Zealand officer, is Projects and Sponsorship Secretary, Sri Lanka Territory