Ukraine must also fight corruption, says the UN development chief

In addition to fighting Russia, Ukraine must also actively fight corruption to unleash a massive influx of reconstruction funds, the head of the UN development agency told AFP.

Fighting corruption – which was endemic in Ukraine long before the Russian invasion – will “prevent theft from one’s own people,” said United Nations Development Program director Achim Steiner.

Corruption is theft of development, of public coffers and ultimately of the citizens themselves, said the head of the UNDP on the fringes of the reconstruction conference in Lugano.

At the two-day meeting in Switzerland that ended on Tuesday, participants agreed on the Lugano Declaration, which sets out the key principles for rebuilding Ukraine from the ashes of the Russian war.

They included that Ukraine must take the lead in reconstruction and that the reconstruction process must be accompanied by far-reaching reforms.

UNDP has had a presence in Ukraine for decades, but has had to reconsider its priorities following the February 24 invasion and the huge influx of refugees and IDPs.

Steiner pointed out that one of UNDP’s priorities is good governance.

“We have anti-corruption support systems that we make available to governments – but we do so at their invitation,” said the 61-year-old.

“It is also in Ukraine’s interest to be proactive in this area,” he added, because if it is, “a significant amount of funding will come from abroad” to rebuild the country.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in Lugano that the aim is “not to fight corruption, but to make corruption impossible”, in particular through the comprehensive digitization of public services in order to reduce “human interactions” – and thereby the opportunities for corrupt transactions to restrict.

Steiner said UNDP will work with Ukraine on accountability, transparency and the use of digital technology for e-government platforms.

“These are the means by which we can build confidence in Ukraine’s ability to handle this very quickly and also build confidence in the international community,” he said.

In its 2021 Public Sector Corruption Perceptions Index, the NGO Transparency International ranked Ukraine 122nd out of 180 countries.

The position is better than in 2014, when it ranked 142nd, and higher than Russia at 136, but well behind the countries of the European Union – which Kyiv is aiming to join – where even the lowest-ranked nation, Bulgaria, ranked 78th lies .

UNDP is active in 170 territories and Steiner, like many of his colleagues in charge of UN aid agencies, stressed that Russia’s war in Ukraine also has serious implications for many other countries that should not be overlooked.