This Thursday, May 12, UK Prime Minister David Cameron will host an international anti-corruption summit in London. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to attend the summit, which will bring together high-level government representatives, business leaders and civil society to step up international efforts to address corruption.
Last week the White House announced a several steps the U.S. will take to strengthen financial transparency, and combat corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion.
John Prendergast, Founding Director of the Enough Project, notes that "Corruption is the enabler of many critical problems around the globe. In Africa, for example, grand corruption is not only at the heart of under-development and poverty but also of violence and armed conflict. The anti-corruption summit is an opportunity for world leaders to recommit to existing tools to counter corruption, identify new ones, and imagine broader strategies to dismantle the kleptocratic networks undermining Africa's economic future. The test of success for the summit will be whether governments implement and enforce these tools in a serious way that changes the calculations of officials who now prioritize personal gain over the public good, often with deadly consequences. If so, the summit can be a game-changing moment for millions of people in Africa."