A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

As part of the on-going Doing Business research on transparency, I have come across very interesting anti-corruption material and web-pages. After surfing many public institutions' sites, I noticed that governments tend to take an arid approach when presenting anti-corruption content. Complicated words, not very dynamic web pages, and weak educational content for their citizen are quite common. This seems to make complete sense considering the seriousness and sensitivity of the topic. But, they always left me wondering if there could be a way of dealing with anti-corruption issues in a more user-friendly manner.

My wondering found a pleasant response while surfing the Anti-Corruption Commission web-page of the Royal Government of Bhutan. More specifically, while browsing through the pages of their last annual bulletin. With an Anti-Corruption Act that was recently approved in 2006, this country seems to be making an important push to ensure the law’s full implementation and overall compliance. What you see here is the poster that accompanied the reminder of the deadline to submit the required asset declaration for public officials.

From academics to practitioners and journalists, liters of ink (or web design time) have been used to try to explain the different links, actors, causes, and consequences of corruption. Add to that some more words to explain why compliance with disclosure requirements is a good transparency mechanism to fight corruption. However, this was the first time I saw something as graphic, clear, and appealing to both the obliged public officials and the general public at the same time.

No need for further words, right?