Corruption and Governance Failures in Pakistan: A Barrier to SDG 16 Implementation

Abstract

In Pakistan, corruption has been cited as a key challenge in governance, deteriorating institutional integrity, economic growth, as well as the practice of democracy. This is a direct problem affecting the Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16) dealing with the focus of peace, justice, and strong institutions. Though there have been measures to fight corruption by agencies such as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), corruption is recurrent in the business premise, courts, political organs and the financial markets. Among those are poor law enforcement, political interference in accountability systems and deficiency of transparency within the institutions.
The present study is a critical analysis of the anti-corruption measures in Pakistan in terms of their effectiveness, weaknesses, and possible solutions.