home
about us
news room
global priorities
regional pages
policy and research
tools
publications
print this page
Anti-corruption education
"Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe - the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me."
Immanuel Kant (1788)
Anti-corruption education is a vital component of any anti-corruption strategy. Informed citizens are probably more effective in preventing corrupt and unethical behaviour of public servants than the most sophisticated codes of conduct, laws and regulations. Anti-corruption laws and institutions need people who do not tolerate corruption and who actively act against it: Without reports of corruption, corrupt acts cannot be sanctioned, ombudsmen cannot follow up on complaints, the judiciary cannot prosecute.
The goal of anti-corruption education is to build demand for accountability. Anti-corruption education promotes values, attitudes and expectations that condemn corruption, and skills to resist it. Anti-corruption education develops people's understanding of their rights and responsibilities for preserving the public good. It highlights the damage done by minor acts of corruption: The traffic officer who lets a drunk driver go in exchange for a small bribe, the nurse who denies patients treatment if they are unable to pay 'an additional fee', the customs officer who extorts payments from small traders and enterprise: These acts potentially kill, ruin small enterprises, and deprive people of their human rights to health, education and security.
Anti-corruption education impacts at two levels:
First, it aims at strengthening individuals in their ethical decision-making. Value conflicts and ethical dilemmas frequently arise in the daily lives of people, for example when family values, such as loyalty, clash with work ethics, such as impartiality. Ethics education should provide the skill to identify such conflicts, and instil the motivation for solving them in the best interest.
Second, it aims at building a culture of zero-tolerance for corruption, through strengthening public awareness and participation in political life, and through mobilising the public to stand up against corruption.
Anti-corruption education is not an agenda on its own, but should be regarded as part of broader approaches to ethics and citizenship:
Citizenship and democracy education aims at strengthening democratic processes and participation in politics, and promotes values such as representation, solidarity, participation, responsibility and pluralism. Human rights education promotes inherent human dignity, enshrined in the equal and inalienable rights to for example take part in government, fair employment, adequate standard of living and many others, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Voter education, in that it builds citizens' awareness of electoral processes, should also be considered anti-corruption education. Finally, public and private sector ethics and organisational ethics do have strong anti-corruption components, as they build on values such as accountability, fairness, impartiality and lawfulness.
A corruption-resistant culture needs political commitment from the top, as well as an appropriate legal framework. It can develop in an environment where people have the skills and social power to stand up against corruption. It will be difficult to credibly promote anti-corruption in a culture of impunity, or in a situation of extremely low salaries and in absence of other incentives for ethical behaviour. Can anti-corruption education in such an environment still be credible? Yes, if it addresses ethics and corruption honestly, and if it comes from people who transcend integrity and high ethical standards.
