Young Ukrainians against corruption

UN sponsored essay contest against corruption in higher education in the Ukraine produces keen response. Over 100 young persons in the Ukraine took part in the scheme, writing about topics concerning the bribery of officials and the quality of the delivery of the education service.

Photo: Young Ukrainians against corruption

The United Nations sponsored essay competition produced over one hundred participants who wrote about a myriad of connected themes, such as the bribery of officials and the quality of the delivery of the education service to increase awareness and draw the attention towards the subject of corruption, specifically in this case in higher education.

The project was implemented in all regions of the country. Some works raised the issue of standardised testing, suggesting that a proper implementation of an objective testing system can combat corruption having any influence over the attribution of places for university, meaning that this problem is already endemic in Ukrainian society, where a college degree can mean as much as a “document” from a packet of soap.

The UN competition was sponsored by the World Bank and ACTION (the NGO Promoting Active Citizen Engagement in Combating Corruption in Ukraine), and these, together with the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) provided the judges for the contest.

Martin Raiser, World Bank Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova declared that “Ukrainians see that corruption is a major problem for the country’s development, but personally many of them are reluctant to do something about it in their daily lives”. This competition “shows that young people are ready to stand up for change and are thus and encouragement to everyone to make anti-corruption their own agenda,” he added.

Source: UNO

Konstantin KARPOV