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Image: UNOCD
Today, 9 December, the world marks International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD). This year’s theme is Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity, and it will be run as a biennial campaign to highlight the vital role young people play in the fight against corruption.
Corruption is intertwined in most of the challenges that today’s world faces – challenges which threaten prosperity and stability for people across the globe, says the UN. And with 1.9-billion young people in the world, fighting corruption is vital for the future of nearly a quarter of the entire global population.
“While young people are significantly affected by corruption, they also have the potential to become powerful agents of change in the fight for a future rooted in integrity,” says the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the custodian of IACD.
This is why it is not too soon for even more young people to join their peers already fighting the good fight in demanding accountability and actively participating in anti-corruption efforts.
At Corruption Watch (CW) we have a strong contingent of young activists among our staff, taking part in all areas of the organisation’s work and helping to drive a culture of awareness of corruption and encouraging youth to embrace the values of transparency, accountability, and integrity.
“We’re currently developing public awareness material, and that material is part of our arsenal to spread the message of standing up to corruption around South Africa,” says Tawanda Kaseke, the organisation’s project co-ordinator in the Stakeholder Relations and Campaigns unit. “We have developed a toolkit as well as a youth and integrity board game that’s coming in the near future.”
CW staff have in fact test-driven the game and we’re very excited about it.
African youth prioritise anti-corruption
According to the 2024 African Youth Survey, released in September by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, reducing government corruption is the top priority in the next five years. More than a fifth, or 23%, of young respondents indicated this as a situation to be urgently addressed if Africa wants to progress – above other priorities, such as ‘creating new, well-paying jobs’ (20%) and ‘increasing access to basic needs and services’ (17%).
Africa has the youngest population in the world, with almost 70% of sub-Saharan people under 30 years of age. In South Africa, where this demographic is around 39%, youth are especially concerned, with 94% of respondents expressing this sentiment, just behind Cameroon (97%) and Kenya (95%).
Youth across the continent are generally dissatisfied with current efforts to tackle corruption, the report notes, and there is strong support for introducing policies aimed at reducing corruption – these include police taskforces, tougher penalties, and banning those convicted of corruption from standing for public office.
South African youth are no different. In this country, youth are adamant that political leaders must have clean track records and show transparency about their business interests – 81% say that those convicted of corruption should not be allowed to stand for public office, while 79% say candidates running for positions in office must not have a criminal record and 74% say that leaders must publish their financial records and business interests annually.
“At nearly 40% of our population, youth in South Africa have an important role to play in the integrity of the country as a whole, and they must uphold the values of transparency and accountability in their own lives, in order to move us closer to a corruption-free South Africa,” concludes Kaseke.
