Policy Brief: Fight Corruption, Finance Gender Equality
The African Union (AU) has declared 2018 as the African Anti-Corruption Year, with the theme “Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.” Transparency International’s Global Corruption Perceptions Index has continued to illustrate that no region in the world is immune to corruption and that the degrees of difference are informed by the state’s willingness to deal decisively with corruption. The damning Panama Papers were an important illustration of the ways in which politicians, criminals and tax abusers around the world set up shell companies in Panama as a tax heaven to launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax. The global financial system that encourages, facilitates and profits from capital flight and corruption shows that there are supply and demand factors that result in a vicious cycle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society and unequal distribution of wealth.
This Policy Brief by FEMNET addresses how revenue lost through corruption can be channelled towards financing existing African Union commitments on gender equality and women’s rights. This is done by sampling a few key areas where chronic government under-investment contributes to greater gender based inequalities thus increasing the disproportionate burden on already disenfranchised groups.
Click here to Read/ Download the FEMNET Policy Brief on Fighting Corruption and Financing Gender Equality
