Corruption 'creating' humanitarian crisis

Corruption in poor countries has created a humanitarian disaster which threatens to derail the global fight against poverty, Transparency International said.

Releasing its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) yesterday, the anti-corruption watchdog said donor countries should address the problem by carefully targeting aid.

The index ranks 180 countries and territories according to perceived levels of public sector corruption. The CPI scores countries on a zero to 10 scale, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10, low levels.