The World Justice Project has released a policy brief that outlines the major corruption risks posed by the pandemic. According to the Policy Brief, corruption has always existed in every sector of every economy, especially the health sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has however brought some hitherto uncommon corrupt practices to the forefront. Across several countries, corrupt acts engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic include price gouging and overpricing of emergency goods as well as awarding of contracts to unqualified contractors without due process. The pandemic has also left increased fraud, criminal profiteering, money laundering and cybercrime in its wake.

In order to mitigate against the negative impacts of the pandemic, the policy brief proposes auditable procurement, tracking financial flows and making whistleblower mechanisms public to ensure that public funds get to their intended beneficiaries.

Read the policy brief here.