Mark Pieth
Publications and news by Mark Pieth.
Publications
Seefahrtsnation Schweiz: Vom Flaggenzwerg zum Reedereiriesen
Die Globalisierung im heutigen Umfang wäre ohne die Seefahrt nicht möglich, doch der Preis ist hoch: Die Seefahrt ist auf Kollisionskurs mit der Umwelt, sie ist nach wie vor gefährlich, die Besatzungen in See- und Binnenschifffahrt arbeiten oft unter prekären Bedingungen. Doch die Schweiz als viertgrösster Reedereistandort Europas will von den beachtlichen Herausforderungen der Schifffahrt kaum etwas wissen.
Die Schweiz als wichtige Seefahrtsnation – verstärkt noch durch die Schiffe unter Kontrolle der hiesigen Rohstoffhändler und auch als Flaggenstaat in der Flusskreuzfahrt – ist in alle Problemfelder der Schifffahrt verwickelt, bis hin zum Abwracken der Seeschiffe auf Gezeitenstränden, das grauenhafte Folgen für Mensch und Umwelt hat. Deshalb ist es dringend, dass die Schweiz sich der Thematik annimmt und in internationalen Gremien ihre Stimme erhebt, um – im Verein mit den grossen Schifffahrtsnationen – die Probleme der Seefahrt anzugehen, statt die Augen zu verschliessen und Problemfirmen ihr Territorium zur Verfügung zu stellen.
Kathrin Betz und Mark Pieth rollen in ihrem umfassenden Standardwerk die Geschichte der Schweiz als Seefahrtsnation auf: Sie widmen sich dem Grund für die Attraktivität als Reedereistandort, der Finanzierung und dem Bau von Schiffen, der Arbeit auf See, dem Konflikt mit der Umwelt, der Abwrackung sowie der Rolle der offiziellen Schweiz.
Green Corruption - interview with Miljøkrim
This in-depth interview with Professor Mark Pieth and Juhani Grossmann, Team Leader - Green Corruption programme at the Basel Institute on Governance, was conducted by Marianne Djupesland and Nina Norset Little of Økokrim, the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway.
It covers:
- What “green corruption” means and examples of cases of green corruption.
- The link between weak governance and environmental crime.
- Sectors that are particularly prone to green corruption, such as wildlife, mining, illegal logging, waste trafficking and fishing.
- The responsibility of European countries, companies and financial institutions to tackle green corruption, even if the negative effects are felt elsewhere.
- Legislative gaps that mean money laundering from environmental crimes is not prioritised in some countries.
- The role of Collective Action in fighting corruption relating to environmental crime and in promoting environmental sustainability
- The essential of prosecutors in fighting green corruption.
The interview appears in Økokrim’s December issue of “Miljøkrim”.
Quick Guide 16: Gold laundering
Mark Pieth, President of the Board of the Basel Institute on Governance and author of the book Gold Laundering, offers an insight into the risks of human rights and environmental harms in gold supply chains. Where are the risks and responsibilities?
Collective Action with gold refiners, suppliers and other stakeholders, he concludes, can help to clean up the industry.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, ISSN 2673-5229.
Goldwäsche: Die schmutzigen Geheimnisse des Goldhandels
Die brisante, exklusiv recherchierte Darstellung eines wirtschaftspolitischen Schlüsselthemas führt sowohl zur glitzernden Welt der Goldverarbeitung als auch zu den übelsten Minenregionen der Welt.
Mark Pieth beleuchtet die historischen Wurzeln des Goldhandels und die aktuellen Lieferketten, von den Minen über die Raffinerien und geheimen Zwischenhändler bis zu den Konsumenten: den Zentralbanken, Investoren, Juwelieren und Uhrmachern. Und er offenbart die enorme Problembelastung der Goldgewinnung, die mangels verbindlicher Regulierung im Verborgenen bleibt: schwere Umweltzerstörung, Zwangsarbeit und Menschenhandel, Vertreibung, Potentatengeld und Geldwäscherei. Dabei weiß der Autor auch komplizierte Sachverhalte verständlich und packend zu schildern.
Die Schweiz ist nicht nur eine Großmacht im Finanzbereich und im Rohstoffhandel, dessen skandalöse Funktionsweisen das »Rohstoff«-Buch der Erklärung von Bern (EvB, heute Public Eye) bei Salis offenlegte. Auch im globalen Goldhandel ist die Schweiz führend. Doch während etwa die EU bestehende OECD-Richtlinien jüngst in verbindliches Recht überführt hat, setzt die Schweiz weiterhin auf freiwillige Selbstregulierung.
Gold Laundering: the dirty secrets of the gold trade – and how to clean up
In this eye-opening book, Mark Pieth gives an in-depth insight into how the global gold market works, what role Switzerland plays in it, where the hidden abuses lie and how human rights in the gold industry can be protected in a credible way.
The exclusively researched depiction of a key area of economic policy takes us both to the glittering world of gold refining and to the world’s worst mining regions. Mark Pieth illuminates the historical roots of the gold trade before turning his attention to today’s supply chains, from mines to refineries and clandestine intermediaries to consumers: central banks, investors, jewellers and watchmakers. He reveals some of the horrific problems caused by gold mining that still receive little attention due to a lack of binding regulations – severe environmental destruction, forced labour and human trafficking, land grabbing, stolen assets and money laundering.
Mark Pieth not only points out the problems, but presents clear and coherent solutions for more transparency, greater responsibility for the main players and better protection of human rights.
*Gold Laundering: The dirty secrets of the gold trade *is published in English and German by Elster & Salis.
Corruption and Money Laundering in International Arbitration: A Toolkit for Arbitrators
Both in investment and in commercial arbitration, arbitrators face considerable challenges if a party alleges – or the arbitrators suspect – that corruption has influenced the underlying dispute.
- Which laws are applicable?
- What are the requirements for the proof of corruption in arbitration proceedings?
- What are the legal consequences of corruption in arbitration?
- And how can arbitrators become aware of corruption in the first place?
It is generally understood that corruption cannot be condoned – at the same time parties should not be allowed to free themselves of their obligations easily.
This toolkit aims to help arbitrators who suspect, or are confronted with, alleged corruption or money laundering in relation to the underlying dispute, to address these issues in a systematic and comprehensive manner, and to find a solution in accordance with the applicable laws. An arbitral award having been rendered by an arbitral tribunal using the toolkit should have a greater chance of enforcement.
The toolkit was discussed by participants of the International Arbitration and Corruption Conference in Basel, Switzerland, on 10-11 January, 2019.
Report of the Expert Advisory Group on Anti-Corruption, Transparency, and Integrity in Latin America and the Caribbean
Recent corruption scandals have shown the negative effects that corruption may have in countries around the world, including those of the Latin American and Caribbean region. The Inter-American Development Bank has therefore convened an independent group of experts composed by eight governance and anti-corruption scholars and practitioners to identify innovative and effective approaches to combat corruption in the region.
Drawing on the members’ decades of experience, this report analyzes the key features of corruption in the region and proposes an ambitious agenda toward more systemic transformation. The report targets a series of measures aimed at strengthening the rule of law and public institutions, addressing state capture, and helping to meet citizens’ aspirations for sustainable and inclusive development.
Hence, the report recommends a multi-layered approach that requires collective action by governments, the private sector, civil society, and international institutions to tackle the roots of corruption and capture through global, regional, and domestic initiatives.
Confronting Corruption
Corruption undermines nearly all key legal and developmental priorities today, including the effective functioning of democratic institutions and honest elections; environmental protection; human rights and human security; international development programs; and fair competition for global trade and investment.
This book chronicles the global anticorruption steps taken since the movement advanced after the end of the Cold War. It provides a realistic assessment of the present state of affairs by critically evaluating what existing anticorruption programs and treaties have accomplished and documenting their shortcomings, while developing an action agenda for the next decade.
The authors argue that reformative action is imperative, and the forces of globalization and digital communication will level the playing field and erode the secrecy corruption requires. They define corruption, document its effects, discuss the initiatives that changed public perception, analyze the lessons learned, and then evaluate how to move forward with existing initiatives charting a new path with new, differentiated strategies.
Overcoming the shadow economy
The Panama Papers provided proof to the world of something that had long been suspected: the secrecy havens – jurisdictions in which global financial flows were hidden in ways that not even those entrusted with enforcing the laws and regulations of countries around the world could detect – were being used by those engaged in a host of nefarious activities, from tax evasion to corruption and even to child pornography.
In a real sense, the secrecy havens facilitate these activities, because if the money flows were exposed, it would be easier to identify and prosecute the perpetrators. Though typically the managers of the banks, the lawyers who put together the impenetrable web of corporations and the public officials who pass laws ensuring secrecy may think of themselves as just “doing business” and helping them, their employees, and their country prosper, more properly these secrecy havens could be viewed as co-conspirators in these crimes.
Working Paper 21: Globale Finanzflüsse und nachhaltige Entwicklung: Handlungsmöglichkeiten der Schweiz aus Sicht der Entwicklungspolitik
Im Rahmen von UNO und OECD diskutiert die internationale Gemeinschaft zurzeit intensiv, warum die meisten Entwicklungsländer nicht über ausreichend Ressourcen zur Finanzierung der für sie notwendigen Investitionen und ihrer öffentlichen Dienstleistungen verfügen. Dabei fällt das Augenmerk jeweils schnell auf die Ausgestaltung des internationalen Finanz- und Steuersystems. Mit welcher Art Investitionen kann man eine nachhaltige Entwicklung fördern? Wie kann der chronische Abfluss von finanziellen Ressourcen (namentlich aus Rohstoff-reichen Ländern) – oftmals als unlautere und illegale Finanzflüsse (illicit financial flows) umschrieben – reduziert werden? Welche Rolle spielt schliesslich die öffentliche Entwicklungshilfe in diesem Gesamtbild?
Die Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit (DEZA) hat am 29. Oktober 2015 mit Unterstützung des Basel Institute on Governance und unter der Leitung von Prof. Mark Pieth eine Fachtagung‚ Globale Finanzflüsse für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung – Handlungsmöglichkeiten der Schweiz aus Sicht der Entwicklungspolitik‘ durchgeführt. Das vorliegende Dokument stellt die Vorarbeiten und Resultate der Tagung zusammen.
Mit einem Vorwort von Pio Wennubst, Vizedirektor Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit (DEZA).
About this Working Paper
This paper is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Working Paper Series, ISSN: 2624-9650.
News and blog
Annual Report 2021: Defeating corruption for peace, prosperity, equality and dignity
Foreword to our Annual Report 2021. When the year 2021 ended, we were cautiously breathing a sigh of relief. It seemed that the pandemic was starting to get under control in a growing number of countries, and that we could turn our full attention again to the other pandemic, corruption. Little did we know that not even two months would pass until the world would be stunned by another earthquake. One that would fundamentally shake our belief in principles which are so central to our work, and indeed everyone’s life. Of course this is not the first time that international law and convention is trampled on, or that global governance seems to have lost its meaning. But wars are not something you compare or rank in levels of horror. War is always wrong. Our first and foremost hope is that the military aggression in Ukraine ceases, that the killing and destruction stops, and that Ukrainian territorial integrity is preserved. The impact of the war is of course felt worst in Ukraine, but also across the entire world. And as is so often the case, the most vulnerable societies suffer the most, be it from global food and energy insecurity, from redirected development aid, or from the impacts on geopolitical stability. Importantly, we cannot and should not ignore what this war is teaching us about corruption. It has never been more obvious that corruption is a fundamental threat to our societies, to national and international security, and to every citizen. Corruption is not “just” an illegal means to do business or beef up a public servant’s salary. Corruption is a strategic weapon, used to buy geopolitical influence, to capture entire economies and to subjugate people. This corruption is often very subtle, employed strategically over a prolonged period of time. The links between money and effect are often so convoluted and remote that they are hard to see or prove. If so many people had to die, had to flee, had to lose everything they ever owned, in Ukraine and in the many other corruption-driven wars, at least let us make sure that the world finally wakes up to this reality and starts acting for good. No more wilful blindness or tacit complicity; no more impunity in exchange for trade or political loyalty; and no more dominance of national interests over global goods. At the Basel Institute, we are more committed than ever to do our part in what must be a global war – the only war that is ever justified – against corruption. We count on you, our donors, our partners, to work with us and pass the message on: that defeating corruption is fundamental to achieving a world of peace, prosperity, equality and dignity. Read the Annual Report 2021
Annual Report 2020: On fighting the pandemic of corruption
Published today, our Annual Report celebrates the achievements of our teams and partners around the world that we are most proud of in 2020. It also reveals some of the hurdles we were challenged to overcome together. There are many of both, and a lot more stories and highlights in between. This year's report offers deep dives into some of our key focus areas. Our International Centre for Asset Recovery explains why we are supporting the use of non-conviction based forfeiture mechanisms to recover stolen assets, why our training team has launched a new open course on cryptocurrencies and AML compliance, and how Mozambique established a new Asset Recovery Office with our support. Meanwhile, our Public Governance team reveals why networks, not just individuals, are crucial to understanding and countering corruption. The report sets out the new strategy we have launched to address Green Corruption – the corruption and other financial crimes that drive environmental degradation. The popularity of our Corrupting the Environment webinar series, which we are offering together with the OECD, has demonstrated the breadth and depth of interest in this field. In the contributions from our Compliance and Collective Action teams on their work with the private sector, we explore how state-owned enterprises can address their corruption and antitrust risks. We also illustrate efforts to create guidance on reporting on the effectiveness of anti-corruption compliance programmes, with the example of a Collective Action initiative between healthcare companies. In Peru, our 30+ Public Finance Management specialists are breaking new ground with their innovative training approach, using social media and peer-to-peer learning. We also look at what the Basel AML Index revealed about money laundering trends in 2020, the role of virtual training beyond the pandemic thanks to our new Basel LEARN virtual learning platform, and how lockdown opened up fresh opportunities to maximise the potential of open-source intelligence, including through our Basel Open Intelligence search tool. Throughout the Annual Report, it is clear that our achievements depend greatly on the efforts of our partners and donors. And so this is also a chance for us to thank them warmly and to demonstrate some of the impact we are having together on the fight against corruption around the world. Please flick through and stop to read, to think and to send us your ideas and insights – by email, over social media or in any other way. Foreword "We must revive the global social contract to fight the pandemic of corruption" begins the foreword by Gretta Fenner, Managing Director, and Mark Pieth, President of the Board. They continue: While medical research has been quick to develop protection against Covid-19, another pandemic continues to rampage humankind and our attempts at stopping it continue to fall short. We are talking about the widespread disease of corruption, which has become deeply rooted in our societies, and which plagues our communities, their social cohesion and economic wellbeing. It leaps effortlessly between public officials and businesses regardless of political colour, nationality or sector, helped by professional middlemen and rule-free blind spots where dirty money can go on holiday. This has never been more apparent than when the two pandemics met. Initial research seems to indicate that corruption levels rose to even higher levels during the pandemic. It might also be that seeing its deadly consequences from closer quarters made it more visible. What is certain is that more people are seeing through the corruption fog. Political protests and toppled governments around the world show that more people are upset about it, and that is a good development. Those of us who work in the light can only fight a threat that is seen. The ophthalmologists in this case are the many individuals, the journalists, civil society activists, researchers and law enforcement officials who, courageously and often at great risk, are standing up to corruption and dragging it into the daylight. This is a tremendous help for our work, and we hope that our effort helps them. But many of these anti-corruption heroes still fight a lonely battle. What’s more, they are faced with the overwhelming resources and power of the grand transnational corrupt networks that, collectively, stifle sustainable development and undermine the economic and social wellbeing of our societies. To amplify the work of the many courageous people and organisations, nation states, global enterprises and governance bodies should be coming together. But instead, what we see and what is of major concern is an increasing breakdown of global solidarity and a return of increasingly divisive and at best nationalistic domestic and global politics. So we urge politicians and business leaders to revitalise the global social contract – which is competently guided by the Sustainable Development Goals – by showing true and courageous leadership that disregards geographical, social, economic or other borders. But before we are misinterpreted: We are not waiting for another global leaders’ declaration; there are plenty of those. We are waiting for these key stakeholders to really do what they preach. And in doing so, to ask more of themselves and of each other than ever before. This means not just meeting but going beyond the requirements of international treaties and standards. Those who risk their lives to fight corruption, and those who lose their lives because of corruption, every day, in every corner of the world, deserve at least that. So, as we rightly celebrate the healthcare workers and other providers of essential services that are helping their fellow citizens get through the Covid-19 pandemic, let us also celebrate – and actively support – those individuals who resist, stand up and fight against corruption. We have done our best to do just that throughout last year, and we will continue on this mission, hopefully with more backing from true leadership, for the good of everyone in this world. Download our Annual Report 2020
Mark Pieth’s quick guide to gold laundering
Mark Pieth, Professor Emeritus of the University of Basel President of the Board of the Basel Institute on Governance, offers an insight into the risks of human rights and environmental harms in gold supply chains. Where are the risks and responsibilities? Collective Action with gold refineries, suppliers and other stakeholders, he concludes, could help ensure more responsible and sustainable sourcing of gold. What is gold laundering? On its way from the ground to your wedding ring or mobile phone, gold passes through a chain of transactions and transformations. It is traded, collated, processed, shipped or smuggled across borders – all multiple times by different actors - and then refined. One of the challenges caused by the complexity of supply chains is that the gold we buy is easily disconnected from anything criminal or unethical that may have happened in the past. The trading of gold can therefore be misused in similar ways that criminals use complex financial transactions to obscure the money’s origins in crime and corruption. What are potential risks in gold supply chains? Environmental risks in the gold industry range from deforestation to contamination of land, air and water with mercury and cyanide. When mines are decommissioned, there is a risk of acid, radioactive water seeping out and contaminating the local area. All too frequently, there are also accidents involving collapsed or leaking chemical pools. Profits from illegal gold mining can be higher than those from drug trafficking. Gold is known to have fuelled serious conflict, for example in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. Gold has also been used to fund violent organised crime, in particular in Latin America. An estimated one million children work illegally in the mining industry, from underwater gold mining in the Philippines to digging and panning amid heavy dust and mercury, for example in Tanzania and Uganda. Another potential risk related to all types of mining is the displacement of indigenous communities. This can happen after governments try to attract foreign investment by granting mining licences or simply through corruption and intimidation. Strong incentives to mitigate the risks Aside from laws on responsible business conduct and conflict minerals, the gold industry is mostly self-regulated. Companies may choose to commit to voluntary standards developed by industry associations including the LBMA, Responsible Jewellery Council and World Gold Council. This voluntary system relies on third-party audits and is not enforced by law. However, there are strong non-legal incentives to mitigate the risks in gold supply chains. Thanks to the work of investigative journalists and NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Public Eye, awareness of the issues is growing fast. Younger generations are embracing ethical consumerism and demanding products that haven’t harmed the planet or its people. Some jewellers and watchmakers, such as Chopard and A. Favre & Fils, whose owner Laurent Favre is a founding member of the Swiss Better Gold Association, have started to pledge that they will only source gold from certified “green” or “ethical” sources. Investors are also increasingly attentive to the environmental, social and governance risks of the gold trade. In my book Gold Laundering I highlight the role of refineries, particularly in Switzerland, where most of the world’s gold is refined. This is not because the refineries are involved in illegal activities, but because they are located at a critical point in the gold supply chain. After the gold has been refined, it is almost impossible to trace its true origin. This makes gold refineries potentially powerful players in efforts to ensure that gold supply chains are as clean as possible. Spot-cleaning is not a solution When companies act alone to escape a common problem, their actions may have unforeseen and potentially negative consequences for others and in the long term. An example is the action of one Swiss refinery that, with the aim of ensuring a more traceable and transparent gold supply chain, imposed a blanket ban on all gold from small-scale miners. Boycotting small-scale mining, however, will harm and not help the estimated 100 million people worldwide who rely on it for their livelihoods. It is also not an action that will help the industry or consumers concerned about human rights. Small-scale mining contributes around 20 percent of the world’s newly mined gold and large-scale gold mining is not risk-free. Collective Action: a golden opportunity By coming together in Collective Action, major players in the gold refining sector and other stakeholders can find real, practical solutions to some of the risks and problems I have listed above. How about this as a first step? Most stakeholders agree on the urgent need to strengthen the third-party audits that are supposed to enforce the system of self-regulation. The OECD and others have criticised these audits as weak, leaving the whole approach of industry self-regulation open to question. Other areas of potential collaboration and support could be technologies to eliminate the use of mercury or blockchain technologies to increase the transparency of supply chains. Developing common due diligence standards and processes to lighten the burden on legitimate gold traders, and help flag bogus ones, could be another. Many such useful efforts are already underway by different actors in different parts of the world. Coming together will give them the critical mass they need to succeed. A pathway to responsible sourcing Ensuring that gold supply chains are as clean as possible – and demonstrating this to consumers – will take time and effort. If there were easy answers, we would have them by now. There are also clearly limits to what the private sector can do alone. Collective Action initiatives by refineries and mining companies must complement, and be complemented by, concerted efforts by governments such as tighter regulations, stronger customs checks and enforcement against organised crime. NGOs and civil society organisations still have an important part to play. At the end of the day, “laundering” gold through tangled supply chains doesn’t wash the risks away but makes them harder to identify and mitigate. Collective Action can help to bring the risks and problems to light and find ways to truly clean them up, so we can wear our jewellery and use our phones with a shining conscience. Find out more The Basel Gold Day workshop on 9 October 2020 will gather gold industry leaders and experts to explore "How to obtain clean gold: the consumer perspective". My book on Gold Laundering was published in 2019 in English Gold Laundering and German Goldwäsche by Salis Verlag. Download a PDF of this quick guide in English, Spanish and French.
Gold Laundering – why I decided to tackle the gold trade and human rights
Gold Laundering – the dirty secrets of the gold trade and how to clean up is the latest book by Professor Mark Pieth, President of the Basel Institute on Governance. Published by Salis Verlag in English and German, Gold Laundering looks at how the global gold market works, its fundamental role in shaping economic and political history, and its relation to human rights violations, environmental destruction, corruption and other major problems. Pieth's aim is not just to point out the challenges, but to offer a clear, coherent set recommendations for how the gold industry can overcome these and achieve credible protection of human rights. It has been meticulously researched in the field with help from Stefan Mbiyavanga and many others, including NGOs and industry insiders. In this foreword to the English version, Pieth explains why he decided to write about the gold trade: Foreword to Gold Laundering I have spent the last 25 years working in the field of international regulation to keep corruption, money laundering and organised crime at bay. As an academic working at a Swiss university, I could of course not help realising that my native country played a very special role, not only in banking and commodity trading, but also in refining and trading precious metals. In contrast to other products, precious metals are imported and re-exported after refining. The sheer magnitude of the turnover is mind-boggling: up to 3,000 t of gold per year, amounting to 50–70 percent of the world’s gold refining. So Switzerland is obviously confronted with considerable environmental and human rights risks – adding to the risks from its involvement with financial services money laundering, kleptocracy, tax evasion and the like , commodity trading corruption , arms exports, international sports organisations, and more. I was, and still am, shocked at the general lack of awareness about these risks. I am equally dismayed at the lack of political will to implement regulations to improve the lives of the millions of people involved in or affected by gold mining worldwide. It is obviously not a problem only for Switzerland. But you would think we had learnt our lesson from the past. I decided to give international efforts to regulate the gold supply chain, including soft law and self-regulation, a critical look based on my experiences in the fight against economic crime. As this book will show, we have not yet achieved credible protection of essential human rights in this area – and given our fast-growing hunger for other rare metals and rare earth elements, the implications of this go far beyond gold. Find out more English: Gold Laundering: the dirty secrets of the gold trade – and how to clean up German: Goldwäsche: Die schmutzigen Geheimnisse des Goldhandels
FCPA Blog: Will the UN Security Council (finally) take up the fight against corruption?
This blog was originally published on the FCPA Blog, which was discontinued in February 2024. Thankfully, the economist-led debates in the 1990s about whether corruption is the necessary grease in the wheels of business are long behind. But we would argue that many people, including those most affected by it and possibly even those that are in the anti-corruption business, still don’t fully grasp what corruption does to our world. What’s wrong with a Head of State taking money from companies who want to win public contracts, especially if otherwise he or she seems to be running the country in an acceptable way? Hard to believe but I still get this question often. The answer seems obvious, but it seems the connection between corruption and lack of education or public healthcare is not an automatic one for many people. Thankfully, a few real-life examples usually suffice to demonstrate it. Taking the obvious next step of acknowledging that corruption is a direct impediment to the enjoyment of human rights already takes more convincing. But in our view, it is crystal clear: States that fail to effectively prevent and punish corruption are in direct violation of their obligations under international human rights treaties. Our security is protected by police, and terrorism is the business of radicals — or so we think. Yet Transparency International’s 2017 Global Corruption Barometer ranks the police as the most corrupt public institution. It is said that corrupt security services were the cause for a heavily delayed response to the Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya in 2013. What that means is that people died as a direct result of corruption. Frustration about corruption pushes young people into associating with radical groups as these offer an opportunity to vent their anger. Terrorism flourishes where corruption is rife. Why can criminal networks engaged in illegal trafficking in humans, arms and wildlife products operate so freely? Because they can bribe their way through customs and out of courts. And when they have laundered the proceeds of their crimes successfully through the international financial system, they can use these same monies to continue their criminal enterprises. Finally, let us not forget that when money buys votes, when money buys influence, when money buys politicians, when the media is co-opted by corrupt networks, we lose our fundamental right to participate in the destiny of our countries and consequently of our lives. Institutions of democracy, when undermined by corruption, as they sadly are to varying degrees almost everywhere in the world today, become a farce. They end up protecting rotten systems behind a pretty face. Is this reason enough to fight corruption? We certainly think so. The international community missed a critical opportunity when the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs failed to list anti-corruption as one of their 17 high-level principles. We firmly believe that corruption is the root cause of most if not all hurdles to development; and as long as corruption prevails, achieving the SDGs will remain elusive. Maybe we have just seen this being corrected this week, which saw the first UN Security Council session on the relationship between corruption and conflict. Maybe we have just experienced the start of a new era for the fight against corruption, one that finally connects corruption to the reasons for which we need to eradicate corruption. To conflict and security, humanitarian crises, human rights, poverty and democracy. Many member states reported proudly about their efforts to eradicate corruption, and to hear this in the UN Security Council is an important first step. But we have heard similar statements many times in the past two decades in other important fora, and yet our global and domestic political and economic structures are possibly more undermined by corruption today than before the signing of the UN Convention against Corruption. If elevating this topic to the UN Security Council should have any impact, we need to keep the pressure on and hold member states to account for what they promise in these high-level debates. And we, as anti-corruption practitioners, must be better at breaking thought barriers between our community and that of related areas, so that anti-corruption action is not happening in a silo but connected to where its impact may not be easily visible but where it does the greatest damage to our world.