Disasters and corruption, corruption as disaster

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the role played by corruption in post-disaster contexts. Data show growth in both natural and man-made disasters and in humanitarian response provided by bilateral and multilateral donors. These events have become more frequent and also cause more deaths. Moreover, the data demonstrate a strong relation between the impact of these disasters on the standards of living and the prior level of corruption of the country. The severity of disasters is a consequence of corruption, but the opportunities for corruption are also increased in post-disaster situations. Several factors contribute to frustrating the transparency and accountability of decision-making processes during humanitarian crises. We include all these factors in a “formula of corruption”. Despite the growing importance of this issue, the international community has responded to these crucial problems only tentatively. We review those international treaties that have addressed the issue of corruption at the international level. These treaties are preliminary instruments to fight corruption, even if they are not specifically designed to fight this plague in post-disaster contexts. This lack of institutional response has caused civil society and NGOs to take independent measures. For this reason, several NGOs have recommended the implementation of further action in order to map and prevent corruption.