| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
The 10th myth about corruption and governance is the view that there is not much the international financial institutions (IFIs) can do.43 Some development experts are sceptical about the ability of IFIs and donors to help countries improve their governance—either because of a conviction that ‘the macro matters more,’ a mistaken belief in historical ‘determinism,’ or a view that the interventions needed to improve governance are politically sensitive and thus difficult for outsiders to encourage.44 But then,
Surely, there are areas that fall outside the mandate of IFIs, such as promotion of fair multiparty elections. But initiatives to encourage transparency, freedom of information and an independent media, participatory anticorruption programs led by the country, and gender equality—all of which have been underemphasized so far in the fight against corruption—may well be within the ability of IFIs and donors to do something about. Such initiatives, complemented by supporting targeted reform of highly vulnerable institutions (which often include procurement, tax, customs, or the judiciary) offer much promise.45