What can you do to help?

Many think that corruption is just a way of life and that there is nothing they can do to help the cause, but they are wrong.

Here is a list of a few things that you can do to make a difference:
Encourage your Government to ratify and enact the Convention. Countries that successfully attack corruption are far more legitimate in the eyes of their citizens, creating stability and trust.
Promote justice - Educate the public about the governments responsibility to be corruption-free. By educating the public about the Government's responsibility to be corruption-free.
Support education - Support education about ethical behavior and what corruption is and how to fight it. Bring up the youth to expect a government free of corruption.
Bring prosperity - By telling partner organizations, the private sector, Government bodies and the public about the fact that a level playing field improves a country's competitiveness.
Safeguard development - Adhere to rules on fair competition.
Improve public health - Raise the awareness of the public, the media and Governments about the costs of corruption for the health care system.

Below is a link to the United Nations Development Program for anti-corruption. It lays out a whole call to action plan for how the government, civilians, and the media can work to fight against corruption.

http://www.unodc.org/yournocounts/en/about-the-campaign/index.html

Life in Ukraine

A typical day in Ukraine was quite different. We did not have running water the majority of the time, let alone hot water. Electricity was spare. We relied on candles or a fire for our light. Food was very scarce. We only ate what we could grow. If it was a bad growing season, we didn’t have much to eat. Clean clothes did not exist. We rinsed our 2 or 3 outfits maybe once a week in just cold well water and hung them out to dry. Everything in our home was manual. We did not have a dishwasher or oven or microwave. We only had a fridge, stove and bread-cutter in our home.

Instead of having 3 or 4 meals a day, I was lucky to get one sufficient meal. I could not afford to go to the store and buy anything or go to even a market to buy a snack. There was no money to do so. We lived in a one-bedroom apartment with 4 people. The kitchen was big enough to fit a small square table in it and that was it. We had no furniture except for one bed. We lived in very close quarters. At the time I did not think our house was dirty, but now that I see it after I lived here, its filthy. No one shold have to live in that. It is not sanitary for anyone to live in. This is one reason why sickness is rampid in Ukraine. Everyone lives in such close, dirty quarters that sickness is spread so easily. We lived in poverty our whole lives, struggling to make enough money to come close to being able to supply our necessities. As a child I did not understand, which made it that much harder.

Not only did we not have anything, but crime swarmed our town. People were forced to resort to crime in order to meet their necessities. People had to steal, because the prices of everything were so high that no one could afford them. The reason why people resorted to getting involved in organized crime was because they weren’t making enough money at their real jobs to support their families. Being part of organized crime was seen as a second job. In Ukraine you weren’t considered a criminal, just another person trying to support their family.

This is just a brief overview of life in Ukraine, but as you can see it is very different. We had limited supplies of everything and had no luxuries like people do here. The worst part though is that is how the majority of the population lives. In america, the majority of the population lives above the poverty line, but in Ukraine it is the opposite. It is impossible to get out of that lifestyle. The people have all odds against them and no one there to help.

-Oksana

Apartment Complex in Ukraine - would you want your family living here?

Life in America

First to understand our life in Ukraine, I must show you my life in America first. In America, I live in a suburb of Chicago. I live in a 4-bedroom house with both of my parents. We have 3 full baths and 2 half baths. We always have a full stocked fridge and pantry, running hot water, electricity, and plenty of clean clothes. We have plenty of appliances here, like a dishwasher, oven, microwave, stove, clothing washer and dryer, and many televisions. I live in a very safe and upscale neighborhood, where I do not have to worry about crime happening or be worried for my safety. These are all things that most Americans have and take for granted, which they should not. You will see why after my story.

Each morning, I wake up and eat my breakfast and drive my car to school. I take my classes at the lake-shore campus and at the water tower campus. After class, I usually will stop in a store to do some shopping or go out for lunch. These are more luxuries that Americans have that people in other countries do not. After a day I go home to my family and eat dinner, watch TV, or do homework. That is a typical American day.

Most you might be thinking that this life is nothing special. That this is a life that the majority of people enjoy everyday. But you are wrong. This life is special and most people do not have the chance to even dream of living the life that we are lucky enough to live.

- Oksana

Home in Mt. Prospect - nice right?

Life in Ukraine

I think to be able to really understand the affects of the corruption on the civilians, you need to hear Oksana's story in more depth. After the interview I asked Oksana to compare life in Ukraine to life in America. In the next few posts I will post different parts of her story. I really hope this helps you understand why governmental corruption is such a serious issue.

How do we fix the corruption?

In order to eliminate the corruption, the people must become educated. The Ukrainian people understand what is going on, but they do not realize how drastically it is affecting their lives. They do not realize that there are other options and other ways to live besides living in their current situation.

I kept asking Oksana if she was happy there and if the people are happy and she responded, "I was never completely unhappy and I do not think the people are either. But I was only not happy, because I did not know of any other lifestyle. This was how I lived my whole life, so I learned to accept it.We did not know how to fix our lives to improve them, so we settled. If the Ukrainian people were more educated, than they could begin to fight for a new life, but until then they can't and won't."

People cannot begin to fight for something unless they are educated about the affects that it has on them.

Below are some suggestions for improvement in the following sectors:

Judicial Sector: Key activities must be supported to reform the judicial selection process and bring it into line with modern meritocracies. In addition, reforms in court administration and procedures need to be promoted to increase transparency.

Health Sector: Major remedies need to be promoted to make the procurement of pharmaceuticals more transparent and accountable. In addition, it is critical to develop tracking systems to monitor and oversee budgetary expenditures to stem leakages. Overall, organizational, management and institutional reforms are needed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery and reduce mismanagement which can encourage corrupt practices.

Education Sector: It is important to support CSO budget oversight initiatives to put external pressure on the educational system to be accountable for its use of public funds and to encourage greater transparency. Continued expansion of standardized testing procedures for higher school entrance exams is merited.

Public Finance: Support should be given to ensure effective implementation of new procurement laws and ongoing tax reform initiatives. Finally, budget and expenditure oversight – internally and externally – should be promoted.

Parliament: Continued pressure and support needs to be applied to promote adoption of an adequate anti-corruption legal framework. Legislator skills training and resources need to be provided to improve legislative drafting, coalition building and negotiation/compromise skills.

Health Sector

Ukraine is suffering from fast growing HIV and tuberculosis epidemics due to the low amount of health expenditures and difficult access to facilities. The ratio of doctors to citizens causes a dramatic problem for reaching care. In Ukraine there are only 4.5 doctors to every 1,000 citizens. This is drastically lower than any other country.

"I remember going into the doctors office and waiting for hours to see a doctor for 5 minutes. Going to the doctors appointment was a whole day excursion. In America, I hear people complaining about waiting an hour for a doctor, but to me thats nothing compared to what I had to wait in Ukraine. Not only do I have to wait barely anytime at all, but at the American health facilities I get to wait in luxury. There are vending machines, magazines, toys for the kids and comfy chairs."

-Oksana

Not only are there not enough facilities, but the facilities that do exist are in terrible condition. They are overcrowded, run down buildings. They are too small to help a significant amount of people. Doctors lack the resources to help people get better. This is one sector that the amount of corruption in the political sector trickles down and greatly affects the health sector. Until the government as a whole can get organized, the smaller sectors will not be able to improve either.

People suffer, because health system changes never get made. Citizens and government officials demand health system changes to help deal with the troubling epidemics, but due to the lack of funds and lack of government organization nothing can get accomplished.

Ukraine Schools vs. American Schools

Ukrainian Schools

Would you want to play on this playground? Would you want your kids to go to a school that looks like a prison? I think not. This is what the corruption is doing to the school system. The children suffer for something that they have no control over.

American Schools

Or would you rather your kids go to this school and play on this playground?

Education

Even though Ukraine’s education system is one with the highest quality, the amount of corruption involved in the systems overshadows its high potential of producing successful students. Oksana told me that after going to school through fourth grade in Ukraine, she was already way ahead of the students at her American school. In Ukraine there is such a great emphasis on being educated that they take pride it having very knowledgeable students. They place a very strong emphasis on math, physics, and geography. Oksana told me, “When I came to America I was so advanced in math. I excelled hear, because of the immense amount of emphasis there is on mathematics in Ukraine. I was able to easily be at the top of my classes and I still am today.”

You might wander if the education is so good, then how can it be corrupt? It is becoming more of a trend today for students to pay their teachers for passing grades. This way they do not have to do any work and can still pass with flying colors. Why do teachers accept the payments? For the same reason that other sectors of government give in to bribes, their low paying jobs and need for more money. Even when students have to take graduation exams and college entrance exams they pay to have their scores altered. Families continue to pay for their children’s schools, because of the strong importance that is placed on education.