Governance and corruption

World Vision welcomes the recent UK ratification of the UN Convention on Corruption, but we believe that tackling corruption and improving governance must be a deeper process than merely establishing corruption-fighting agencies and making new laws.

Our research suggests that strengthening the availability of information, domestic accountability and participation are much more sustainable solutions, especially with regard to lower level political corruption (patronage, clientelism, etc).

Making aid effective and protecting it from corruption requires careful analysis of relationships and power, more than merely just providing resources themselves. World Vision believes, for example, that the governance indicators suggested in the OECD Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness are too technocratic, and ignore the important relationships between governments and the poor within their own countries.