São Paulo – Corruption is one of the main challenges when it comes to development and income distribution, claims a study released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Unodc). According to the study, disclosed during a conference on ways to fight crime held in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2009 alone, approximately US$ 1.6 trillion may have been laundered worldwide.
Still according to the Unodc, a World Bank survey estimates that corruption-related losses average at US$ 1 trillion per year. The director of the Undoc’s Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Oliver Stolpe, claims that the problem affects all continents, but gains larger dimensions in poorer locations such as Africa.
“We are pursuing the Millennium Development Goals, and one of the reasons that make it hard to meet some of the goals is corruption. We see a very significant economic development [in Africa], but the poverty levels have not changed significantly., the rate of people living with less than one dollar or two per day. Income distribution remains highly skewed,” he said.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
