October 15,2020

Anna Murray 

On October 15th, António Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, published a statement to highlight the damage of corruption, which is “criminal, immoral and the ultimate betrayal of public trust”, especially in times of COVID-19 pandemic.

Some dishonest vendors may leverage this critical time to sell faulty commodities, such as fake medicines, or products lack of ventilators and manufactured tests to squeeze funds out of people. If the government officials and business people who both can control supply chains work in collusion, it would result in extreme price increases, distorted markets and even deprive of people’s life-saving treatment.

In addition to his promise to keep prioritizing transparency and accountability in the UN, António Guterres called upon governments to be watchful and not to act in rush, examining suppliers and make sure fair pricing of necessary commodities. 

The Secretary-General prompted nations to use the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which is the only legally binding general anti-corruption tool.

Photo:Webshot.