The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has issued a powerful declaration reinforcing its institutional dedication to combating corruption during International Anti-Corruption Day 2025 observances. President Daniel Best emphasized that transparency, integrity, and accountability form the essential foundation for meaningful development progress across Caribbean nations.
Corruption continues to present one of the most formidable obstacles to sustainable development globally. Citing alarming statistics from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the Bank highlighted that approximately $1 trillion is paid in bribes annually while an additional $2.6 trillion is siphoned through corrupt practices. These enormous financial drains represent resources that could otherwise transform communities through essential infrastructure, education systems, and healthcare services.
The Caribbean region faces particularly severe consequences from corruption due to constrained fiscal environments, substantial debt burdens, and minimal tolerance for inefficiency. For small island developing states served by the CDB, any resources lost to corruption directly translate into diminished development outcomes and missed economic opportunities.
Accordingly, the Bank has positioned anti-corruption measures as central to its operational mandate rather than peripheral concerns. As a development finance institution serving vulnerable nations, maintaining impeccable integrity standards is crucial for securing continued access to resources required by Borrowing Member Countries. Robust governance frameworks and anti-corruption mechanisms directly enable the Bank’s core objectives of advancing economic growth, poverty reduction, and building resilient societies.
For over a decade, CDB’s Office of Integrity, Compliance, and Accountability has functioned as the institutional cornerstone for governance frameworks encompassing ethics, accountability, and compliance. Through sustained capacity-building initiatives, training programs, and knowledge-sharing on anti-corruption practices, the Office has demonstrated regional leadership in governance standards.
The 2025 observance theme, “Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity,” aligns perfectly with CDB’s institutional priorities and regional vision. With youth development embedded in its operational strategy, the Bank recognizes that empowering emerging generations requires providing young people with the values, knowledge, and tools to champion integrity across all sectors. Caribbean youth bring technological fluency, fresh perspectives, and determination to challenge outdated practices that have hindered progress.
By investing in youth-led initiatives and creating platforms for young voices in governance discussions, CDB supports the emergence of a generation demanding higher institutional integrity standards. As global progress toward Sustainable Development Goals remains significantly off-track, the Bank reaffirms its commitment to championing anti-corruption and good governance.
Effective anti-corruption systems enable institutions to operate more efficiently, attract sustainable financing, and deliver transformative development outcomes. With strengthening anti-corruption mechanisms becoming increasingly urgent, CDB will continue collaborating with governments, civil society, and youth to build a Caribbean where development resources fulfill their promise, institutions operate with unwavering integrity, and citizens trust that development genuinely serves public interests.