The anti corruption agency, Transparency International, says more effort has to made by Pacific countries to combat corruption.
TI chapters, from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Australia, New Zealand and the Berlin secretariat of the agency, say in a statement after a regional meeting in Honiara, that the promotion of good governance in the Pacific has to be given the highest priority.
The statement says continued levels of corruption in many Pacific countries condemn citizens to economic and social instability and generate unrest which is increasingly violent.
TI has committed to expanding it activities in the region to promote effective and equitable enforcement of the law.
It also says more open decision-making is needed so citizens are better informed about the way their countries are run.
