The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Dec 15 marked International Anti-Corruption Day with a roundtable discussion that showcased transparency initiatives from several Latin American countries. Speakers at the event included Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the IDB;Jorge Hage, Minister, Head of the Office of the Comptroller General, Brazil; Joel Salas, Head of the Transparency Policy Unit, Ministry of Public Administration, Mexico; and Alejandro Ferreiro, President of Chile’s Transparency Council. Luis Alberto Moreno emphasized progress made by countries in the region in creating a legal framework for access to information: “Since 2002, 16 Latin American countries have passed access to information laws, instilling greater transparency and accountability,” Moreno said. Moreno also noted improvements in the Bank´s own transparency and anti-corruption efforts.

Participants also discussed how corruption affects the development process, with Joel Salas pointing out that it is more than just an obstacle to economic growth. Salas said corruption affects poorer segments of the population, as they spend larger proportions of their income on bribes than other population groups. “It is crucial for citizens to feel that they are backed by a government that will take their complaints seriously by sanctioning offenders and bringing about change”, added Salas.

Jorge Hage warned that corruption undermines faith in government and that it is important to build trust among citizens so they will report cases of corruption to the relevant authorities. On economic growth, Hage said: “In today’s world, for a country to grow it has to be connected to its global environment. And in this global economy there is no room for tolerating corruption.”

Chile’s Alejandro Ferreiro said that corruption constitutes “a human rights violation”, as it abuses power by stealing from the poor. He encouraged governments and civil society actors not to accept corruption as a part of their reality. Corruption, Ferreiro said, is a “curable disease” that can be fought with public policy. South-South cooperation and sharing lessons learned by individual countries, he added, can be effective tools for achieving more transparency and accountability in Latin America.

The IDB actively partners with countries in Latin American and the Caribbean to fight corruption and promote transparency. It has revised its own anti-corruption framework to ensure accountability in all operations and will continue collaborating with governments to deepen their transparency, integrity and anti-corruption efforts.