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"We have had a lot of agony fighting corruption," he says.

According to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, corruption has siphoned off approximately $100 billion in projects aimed at helping the world's poorest nations since 1946-or 20 percent of the total. The U.N. Oil-for-Food Program with the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq is a case in point. The program allowed Iraq, which was under international sanctions at the time, to sell some of its oil to purchase humanitarian goods. Instead, three senior U.N. officials are suspected of taking millions in bribes from Saddam, who may have diverted up to $5 billion to his personal bank accounts.

Organizations such as World Vision and the quasigovernmental World Bank say controlling corruption is a top priority, especially since the difficult transitions from communism to capitalism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Some experts propose legal and social solutions: better laws, watchdog agencies, and other organizational systems to catch and stop corruption. However, even the best anticorruption mechanisms are so many Tinkertoys without strong motives to use them, says World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn: "There needs to be a moral motive to sustain the process."

Consequently, the World Bank took the controversial step of hiring Katherine Marshall as an executive officer in charge of bringing religious and moral considerations into its lending and economic development efforts. "Very often," Marshall says, "the strength of anticorruption efforts depends on having the support of people with strong religious beliefs."

Tony Carnes is a senior news writer for CT.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today.Click for reprint information.

A profile of Eric Wainaina, including a link to one of his songs, is available from Berklee College of Music.

Chicago Public Radio's Worldview broadcast an interview with John Githongo, Executive Director of Transparency International-Kenya, and included Eric Wainaina song, "Nchi ya Kitu Kidogo" or "Land of 'A Little Something'".

More about the U.N. Convention Against Corruption is available from the U.N.'s website.

Transparency International has more information about its work on its website, including the Corruption Perceptions Index and the Global Corruption Report.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations' hearing on corruption is available online.

Other Christianity Today articles on combating corruption include:

Churches Back Truth Commission | Panel will examine allegations of murder and corruption under former president. (March 18, 2003)

Zambian President Takes Action After Churches Criticize Him | Mwanawasa surprises observers with his efforts to rout political corruption. (Aug. 08, 2002)

Eight Years after Zambia Became Christian Nation, the Title Is Not Convincing | Immorality and corruption on the rise, say church leaders (Jan. 17, 2000)

Indian Campaign Against Church Corruption | A new commission is looking to establish financial accountability for Christian leaders. (Jan. 8, 2001)

Church Leaders Refocus on Ethics | For the past two years, Nigeria has ranked as the world's most corrupt place to do business, according to an independent survey of global business executives. But recently, thousands of church leaders gathered to take aim at the country's corruption problems and agreed to stop shifting blame to political leaders for society's problems. (March 2, 1998)

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November 2004, Vol. 48, No. 11