The cost of corruption

Pakistan is marking International Anti-Corruption Day earlier than the global calendar this year. While the United Nations observes the day on December 9, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has chosen to commemorate it on December 8, 2025, signalling a sense of urgency rooted in Pakistan’s governance reality.

Corruption in Pakistan is far more than an ethical lapse; it is a structural threat to national competitiveness, economic sustainability and institutional credibility. For a country with a population exceeding 241 million, where nearly 64% are under the age of 30 and more than 145 million young people stand poised to shape the nation’s trajectory, the 2025 global theme, ‘Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity’, serves as both a call to action and a warning. The country’s most powerful economic advantage, its youth, remains at risk of being undermined by governance failures that systematically erode opportunity, fairness and trust.

Around the world, evidence consistently links corruption with economic stagnation, decreased investor confidence, and weakened state capacity. In Pakistan, these impacts manifest with particular intensity because young people encounter the consequences earliest and most directly. Underfunded universities, shrinking job markets, compromised healthcare systems and opaque or politicised recruitment processes all converge to create an environment where talent is discouraged, and effort is often overshadowed by influence.

A global youth essay competition conducted in 2024, which attracted over 1,300 submissions, showed this reality. Young people across the world repeatedly described corruption as a barrier to their growth and participation in public life. For Pakistani youth, who represent one of the world’s largest demographic cohorts, the consequences are even more severe. 

Corruption weakens the social contract at a time when confidence in governance is already fragile, and it accelerates frustration among those who should be the country’s most optimistic contributors.

If Pakistan is to address these challenges meaningfully, it must recognise that anti-corruption is not merely an ethical framework; it is an economic strategy. No modern economy has succeeded without strong institutions, predictable regulatory environments and transparent governance systems. For Pakistan, the cost of corruption is measured not only in financial losses but also in diminished competitiveness, brain drain and heightened inequality.

The first imperative, therefore, is structural youth inclusion. While Pakistan’s policymakers frequently reference the value of youth engagement, meaningful participation remains limited. 

The country’s young citizens are rarely integrated into formal decision-making structures, policy reform councils or institutional advisory mechanisms. Without deliberate inclusion, Pakistan risks designing systems that do not reflect the needs of the demographic that will be most affected by them.

True youth inclusion would require creating advisory councils in key ministries, integrating young professionals into governance reform teams, establishing innovation labs focused on anti-corruption solutions and embedding integrity education across academic institutions. Such reforms represent a shift from symbolic engagement to structural empowerment.

Technology offers another powerful yet underutilised avenue for transforming Pakistan’s integrity landscape. Globally, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and data analytics are being used to detect anomalies in procurement, track public expenditures and reduce human discretion, the single most common entry point for corruption.

Pakistan’s youth are uniquely capable of driving these innovations. With one of the fastest-growing digital populations in the region, the country’s young technologists and entrepreneurs have already demonstrated remarkable creativity in building solutions for financial inclusion, civic engagement and digital services.

Integrating technology into the governance system could enable AI-assisted forensic audits, blockchain-enabled contracting, real-time monitoring dashboards for government performance and secure channels for whistle-blowers to report wrongdoing anonymously. These tools can help minimise leakages, improve transparency and create a more predictable business environment.

A robust anti-corruption framework, however, cannot rely solely on the public sector. The private sector, which employs roughly 78% of Pakistan’s workforce, plays a central role in shaping ethical norms and workplace opportunities. For many young graduates, the first encounter with corruption occurs through opaque hiring processes, unofficial payments for job placements or discriminatory recruitment practices.

Ethical business standards, ranging from transparent procurement systems to ESG-aligned corporate governance, are essential not only for building trust but also for enhancing Pakistan’s competitiveness in global markets. Countries with strong corporate integrity frameworks attract investment, reduce transaction costs and create healthier labour markets. 

Pakistan must encourage the private sector to institutionalise compliance mechanisms, adopt international anti-bribery standards, and demonstrate leadership in creating merit-based environments where young people can thrive.

Among Pakistan’s most significant governance gaps is the lack of comprehensive whistle-blower protection. Around the world, some of the most consequential corruption cases have been exposed because strong legal safeguards protected individuals. In Pakistan, the absence of such protections deters employees, especially young professionals, from reporting wrongdoing. 

Without guarantees of anonymity, protection from retaliation, and legal recourse, individuals will continue to remain silent. Silence corrodes institutions, allowing corruption to expand unchecked. Enacting whistle-blower protection aligned with global best practices is not optional; it is indispensable for reform.

Pakistan’s whistle-blower protection framework remains incomplete and uneven, despite several legislative attempts over the years. The federal Public Interest Disclosure Act of 2017 provides limited safeguards for reporting corruption but lacks strong enforcement mechanisms, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 2016 whistle-blower law has never become fully operational because the mandated vigilance commission was not established.

Recognising these gaps, the government introduced the Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Bill 2025, aimed at creating an independent national body to ensure anonymity, prevent retaliation, and handle disclosures more effectively. 

Yet, until this new law is fully implemented and protections are extended to both public and private sectors, whistle-blowers in Pakistan will continue to face significant risks when exposing wrongdoing, leaving the country without one of the most essential tools for accountability and institutional integrity.

The cumulative effect of corruption is also deeply social. Corruption fuels inequality, weakens justice systems, erodes institutional legitimacy and widens the gap between citizens and the state. For Pakistan’s youth, whose expectations and aspirations are already shaped by global exposure, unchecked corruption becomes a security issue. It accelerates outmigration, undermines civic engagement and reduces confidence in national institutions.

Education, therefore, becomes the most critical long-term tool for reform. Schools and universities must teach not only academic content but also civic responsibility, ethical leadership, and critical thinking. A culture of integrity is cultivated, not inherited, and Pakistan must invest in this cultivation if it hopes to sustain reform.

NAB’s decision to observe International Anti-Corruption Day on December 8 carries symbolic significance. It suggests recognition of the urgency and willingness to lead public dialogue rather than simply participate in international rituals. 

Yet symbolism alone is insufficient. Pakistan’s governance crisis requires measurable action, institutional courage, and a commitment to structural reform. The country stands at a demographic crossroads. With more than 145 million young people ready to contribute, Pakistan’s future will be determined by whether it chooses transparency over opacity, merit over patronage, and innovation over inertia.

On this early observance of International Anti-Corruption Day, one conclusion is clear: Pakistan’s youth are not victims of corruption; they are the most powerful force capable of dismantling it. If the country equips them with transparent systems, protects those who speak up, leverages technology intelligently and embeds integrity across institutions, Pakistan can build a governance ecosystem where integrity becomes a competitive advantage rather than an exception.

The path forward depends on choices made today. And those choices will determine whether Pakistan’s youth inherit a system defined by corruption or one shaped by integrity, opportunity, and trust.

The writer is a public policy expert and leads the Country Partner Institute of the World Economic Forum in Pakistan. He tweets/posts @amirjahangir and can be reached at: [email protected]

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer's own and don't necessarily reflect Geo.tv's editorial policy.

Originally published in The News