Ukraine and corruption
In 2015, Ukraine managed to move only one point up in the results of the World Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), ranking 130 out of 168. This somewhat better result compared to 2014 was achieved thanks to a more critical attitude of society towards corrupt officials and by having more media coverage, forcing the government to respond. However, the perpetrators were not often brought to responsibility.
So, on the one hand, public opinion matters for corrupt officials; on the other, they still feel they can avoid responsibilities for their crimes, especially if they are high-ranking officials.
In 2016, some contradicting steps in the direction of fighting against corruption were made. For example, appointing Yuriy Lutsenko, known to be loyal to President Poroshenko, as a Prosecutor General. Nevertheless, this year, work on eliminating corruption had been implemented. Just recently the new legislation which loaded the judicial reform came into force. Two organizations created in 2015 to fight corruption continue their active work – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and National Agency for Prevention of Corruption.
Read also: Behind the scenes of civic society’s battle with corruption in Ukraine
What is corruption for you
Traditionally the International Contest “Stop Censorship! Citizens for free countries” accepts works devoted to freedom of speech, access to public information, fighting censorship. Taking into consideration the public demand, this year the topic of the competition was “Corruption is…”.
The organizers see corruption as a great obstacle on the way of development of a country. They hold that analyzing problems, especially with the language of images and open dialog, is the first step on the path of changes.
Overall, 570 works were submitted to the contest by authors from 89 countries.
Look at the pictures and think what corruption is for you:
