by Meaghan Louise

Created on: August 02, 2008

According to the Global Corruption Report 2008, overuse and pollution have made water-based ecosystems the world's most degraded natural resource, and by 2025 more than 3 billion people could be living in water stressed countries.

Corruption remains one of the least addressed challenges in relation to water resources and services. Governments, bilateral and multilateral organizations have tacitly accepted corruption in the way water is governed.

Corruption siphons off scarce monetary resources and diminishes countries' prospects for providing water and sanitation for all and sound water resources management. It reduces economic growth and discourages investments within the water sector. A recent article published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) titled "Fighting Corruption" stated that Corruption undermines performance and effectiveness of both public and private sectors, leading to inefficient and unequal allocation and distribution of water resources and related services'. It further states that corruption in this sector decreases and diverts government revenues that could be used to strengthen budgets and improve water and other services, especially for poor people, makes existing legislation, rules and regulations ineffective, which can drive increased water pollution and over-abstraction of ground and surface water. This kind of corruption according to the UNDP dilutes the integrity of the public service sector, since discretionary decision making creates unpredictability and inequalities and can circumvent the rules of law and justice'.
In a press release issued by Transparency International (a global coalition against corruption), Chair Huguette Labelle was quoted as saying Water is a resource without substitute. It is paramount to our health, our food security, our energy future and our ecosystem. But corruption plagues water management and use in all these areas'.

At the level of household economies, its cost is felt in deficient water service delivery and practices, contributing to the 40 billion working hours lost annually at a global scale due to inefficiency in the water sector. In the poorer regions of the world this corruption of the water supply and the governments that control it keeps many children out of school, as they are instead occupied by the time-consuming burden of collecting household watera burden that traditionally falls largely on females.
Water scarcity is often cited as a potential source of conflict. According to the UN Global Programme Against Corruption, corruption adds to this threat by undermining government security institutions (rule by law), increasing the gap between rich and poor and fostering a culture of crime and illicit behavior which upsets social and political stability and sparks violence.

Corruption is a symptom of governance deficiencies in both the private and public spheres. In many countries, enforcement of legislation is weak and judicial systems are inadequate.According to the UNDP when these factors are are combined with low wages, huge income disparities (both within and between countries) and accountability and transparency shortcomings, personal economic gain is more attractive to many of those in power than the well-being of the citizens they represent.

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