Democratic Governance >> Transparency & Accountability >> Fighting Corruption

Many of these governments have already signed two major United Nations conventions, the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, originally signed in Palermo in December 2000, and the Convention against Corruption, signed in Merida in December 2003.

Most of the states in the Arab region have also joined the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force, established on 30 November 2004 as a voluntary regional association to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

A few of them have enabled their civil societies to form active chapters of Transparency International to take the lead in exposing corruption and obstacles to combating it. Most governments have taken some initiatives in their own right, notably in the international campaign against money laundering. Some of them have also subjected their public procurement procedures to more transparent and rigorous supervision. Many of them have also engaged in sporadic campaigns against public officials alleged to be corrupt, but few governments have permitted their respective civil societies to make officials more accountable. Consequently their scores on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index tend to be low, the best scores being obtained by some of the smaller and wealthier Gulf Cooperation members.