Asia Pacific Human Development Report

Corruption is increasingly being challenged as unacceptable across Asia and the Pacific: widespread malfeasance corrodes health care, education and public utilities. Now is the time to seize the moment, to combine pressure from above, in government as well as private sector, with the voice of people from below. Huge political and economic dividends can accrue from empowering countries to crush corruption. Eliminating this scourge will allow people across the region, especially the poor, to lead lives they value and to reach their fullest potential. The Report shows how everyone eventually loses with corruption – focusing on why it hurts the poor the most and what can be done. It also spotlights the successes so far, as well as proposes further solutions, and in so doing, aims to ensure that history does not become the region’s destiny.