A new report issued by Transparency International revealed that only 28% of citizens of six countries in the Middle East and North Africa region think that their government is doing well in the fight against corruption.
According to the report, 41% have paid a bribe in Lebanon to receive public services in the past 12 months and 68% said corruption has worsened over the past 12 months.
The report added that 23% were exposed to sextortion or know someone who has, while 47% were offered a bribe in exchange for casting their votes and 54% were used as a mean to obtain public services.
The report, Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) -- Middle East and North Africa, showed that more than one in five people paid a bribe in the previous year to access public services, such as health care and education. This is equivalent to approximately 11 million people in the six countries surveyed.
Moreover, in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine, more than a third of citizens or what is equivalent to 3.6 million people, used their personal connections, or what is known in the region as “wasta,” to get the services they needed.
In a first, the survey also asked citizens in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine about their experiences with sexual extortion, which is considered a form of corruption in which sex is the currency of the bribe instead of the monetary currency. Surprisingly, one in five citizens experienced sextortion when trying to access a public service, or knows someone who has.
Also according to the survey, 44% of people think that most or all lawmakers and government officials are involved in corruption. This may explain why 60 per cent of citizens also reported dissatisfaction with how democracy works in their country; and why more than 80 per cent of people in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine believe government corruption forms a major dilemma.
Despite these results, half of citizens still believe that ordinary people can make an influence in the fight against corruption and that governments in the Middle East and North Africa must show genuine political will to fight corruption and take steps to:
-Strengthen electoral integrity to guarantee fair and democratic elections;
-Empower whistle blowers, civil society and media outlets;
-Reduce and prevent “wasta”;
-Strengthen judicial independence and promote separation of powers;
-Recognize and address certain gender-based forms of corruption;
-Improve transparency and access to information