The Struggle against Corruption

Instead of a golden age of political integrity and economic prosperity, the last four decades since the end of the Cold War have brought the world to a dangerous juncture. People are experiencing rising inequality and powerlessness. They’re wondering about the fate of their families, their communities, and the systems that move the world today. When you add climate change in, our moment in history starts to look a lot like science fiction. Cynicism, frustration, and desperation are rising in countries around the world often as a reaction to the perceived failure of democracy and globalization. If all these problems were intimately related, if they’re all part of a single transformation occurring in power centres across the world, if there was something that people everywhere could do about it, then that would be an opportunity the global community could hardly afford to miss. To understand this possibility, you have to try on a change of perspective. And it all begins with corruption. This brand new short film from UNODC brings together UN experts and academics to look at how corruption has manifested itself throughout history, what the implications have been, and how we can work to counter this crime.