In 2012, half of Afghan citizens paid a bribe while requesting a public service and nearly 30 per cent of them paid a bribe for a private sector service, states the survey on trends and patterns of corruption produced by the High Office for Oversight and Anticorruption and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

While these figures are high, there is evidence of progress, as 59 per cent of the adult population had to pay at least one bribe to a public official in 2009. However, the frequency of bribery has increased from 4.7 bribes to 5.6 bribes per bribe-payer and the average cost of a bribe has risen from $158 to $214, a 29 per cent increase in real terms.

“The bribes that Afghan citizens paid in 2012 equals double Afghanistan’s domestic revenue or one fourth of the Tokyo pledge,” said the UNODC Regional Representative, Jean Luc Lemahieu, referring to the international donors’ conference held in Japan in July, in which $16 billion was pledged for Afghanistan’s economic development in the next four years on the condition that the Government reduce corruption before receiving all of the money.

“Nobody doubts the seriousness of the issue, the art is to design the correct strategy to remedy the situation,” said Mr. Lemahieu.

While corruption is seen by most Afghans as one of the most urgent challenges facing their country, it seems to be increasingly embedded in social practices, with patronage and bribery being an acceptable part of day-to-day life.

The survey, which was based on a sample of 6,700 Afghan citizens over the age of 18 across the country, stated that 68 per cent of those interviewed considered it acceptable for a civil servant to top up a low salary by accepting small bribes from service users. Similarly, 67 per cent of citizens considered it sometimes acceptable for a civil servant to be recruited on the basis of family ties and friendship networks.

In most cases, bribes are paid to obtain better or faster services, while in others bribes are offered to influence deliberations and actions such as police activities and judicial decisions, thereby eroding the rule of law and trust in institutions.

In particular, the survey points to the education sector as one of the most vulnerable to corruption, with the percentage of those paying a bribe to a teacher jumping from 16 per cent in 2009 to 51 per cent in 2012.

“Afghans know that corruption is eating at the fabric of their society,” said Mr. Lemahieu. “The solution is not only to be found within the Government but also within the wider community.”

“Corruption is not inevitable,” Mr. Ban said in his message for the Day. “It flows from greed, and the triumph of the undemocratic few over the expectations of the many.”

In 2003, the General Assembly designated 9 December as International Anti-Corruption Day to raise awareness of both corruption and the role of the UN Convention against Corruption in combating and preventing it.

That same year, the Assembly – today comprising 193 countries – adopted the Convention, becoming the world’s first global legally binding international anti-corruption instrument.

In his message, the Secretary-General noted that 164 countries have so far become States Parties to the Convention, adding that “we need universal adherence.”

The Convention entered into force in December 2005, and sets out prevention and criminalization measures targeting corruption, while also facilitating international cooperation and asset recovery.

The UN chief said addressing the problem of corruption had become “all the more urgent” as world governments and institutions seek to craft a new development agenda to succeed the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed on by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000 and have a 2015 deadline for achievement.

He also highlighted that the General Assembly’s landmark High-Level Meeting on the Rule of Law in September – which linked respect for transparent justice-based laws to success in achieving peace, security and prosperity – stressed the importance of addressing and preventing corruption.

“Corruption destroys opportunities and creates rampant inequalities,” Mr. Ban said. “It undermines human rights and good governance, stifles economic growth and distorts markets.”

With the theme for this year’s Day being ‘Act Against Corruption Today,’ Mr. Ban said he was calling on “everyone to work towards a sustainable future, where corruption is exposed and rejected, where integrity prevails, and where the hopes and dreams of millions are realized.”

He added, “Governments must play their part, and citizens must raise their voices.”

Mr. Ban pointed out that the ill-effects of corruption ripple throughout society, denying people vital social services and infrastructure, and denigrating the environment.

“The cost of corruption is measured not just in the billions of dollars of squandered or stolen government resources,” Mr. Ban said, “but most poignantly in the absence of the hospitals, schools, clean water, roads and bridges that might have been built with that money – and would have certainly changed the fortunes of families and communities.”

Corruption aggravates environmental problems, he said, through such activities as illegal dumping of hazardous waste, or the illegal trade in animal and plant life.

Mr. Ban also flagged how these activities can be facilitated by bribery and under-the-table incentives, which in turn determine who is awarded contracts. He added that this was especially true in the case of “highly lucrative, large-scale infrastructure projects.”

“Corruption hampers the ability of nations to prosper and grow,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the closing of the panel discussion, at UN Headquarters in New York. “Neither peace, development nor human rights can flourish in an atmosphere of corruption.”

Organized by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the ECOSOC 2012 High Level Panel on ‘Accountability, Transparency and Sustainable Development: Turning Challenges into Opportunities’ sought to spotlight the negative consequences that corruption and lack of transparency can have on sustainable development, while giving participants the opportunity to exchange views on innovative approaches and partnerships in combating the issue.

“Last year, corruption prevented 30 per cent of all development assistance from reaching its final destination. This translates into bridges, hospitals and schools that were never built, and people living without the benefit of these services,” Ban said. “This is a failure of accountability and transparency. We cannot let it persist.”

Addressing the opening of the discussion earlier Monday, the Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, had described corruption as a threat to sustainable development and the “moral fibre of societies.”

“The work against corruption is even more important in weak and fragile countries – some just emerging from conflict – where the rule of law and institutions are still vulnerable,” he added, stressing that it is vital that governments include anti-corruption measures in all national development programmes.

The High Level Panel also promoted a renewed commitment for the ratification or accession to the UN Convention against Corruption by countries that have not yet done so. The Convention is the first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument – it obliges States to prevent and criminalize corruption, promote international cooperation, recover stolen assets and improve technical assistance and information exchange.

“Today’s special event has highlighted the important role of accountability and transparency and their impact on development. Our debate has shown that, if we are to successfully promote accountability and transparency, a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach is required,” said ECOSOC’s President, Miloš Koterec.

He added, “I once again urge every State to join the Convention and to add their own voices to the groundswell of countries seeking to promote accountability and transparency.”

The Panel discussion was part of ECOSOC’s high-level segment, which began last Monday and concludes today. A founding UN Charter body, ECOSOC is the venue where issues concerning the world’s economic, social and environmental challenges are discussed and debated, and policy recommendations made.

More than 500 delegates, including government ministers and heads of civil society groups, international institutions and the private sector, attended the Council’s high-level segment, which focussed on boosting productive capacity, strengthening development cooperation and creating decent, sustainable work.

ECOSOC will now hold its operational activities segment and humanitarian affairs segment, before concluding on 27 July.

The 54-member Council coordinates the work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, ten functional commissions and five regional commissions, receives reports from ten UN funds and programmes and issues policy recommendations to the UN system, as well as to Member States. It meets every year, alternating between New York and Geneva.