"What is corruption?" We must begin from here because it's simple: without truly and wholly understanding how corruption features in our daily lives, it will be practically unwise to think of solutions or be inspired to implement them. Just as well, exposing corrupt practices and holding the corrupt to an account will only be possible if we all can identify the numerous ways by which corruption is carried out and every kind of existing system inherent in the private and public sectors that enable it. So, let us define corruption.

Corruption, as defined by the World Bank, is a form of dishonesty or criminal offense undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority, to acquire illicit benefit or abuse power for one's private gain. It includes many activities such as bribery, embezzlement and theft of official funds, political graft, extortion and blackmail through physical violence and false imprisonment, influence peddling to obtain favors or preferential treatment, illegal business networking to gain a competitive edge, abuse of discretion in decision-making by officials in power, as well as favoritism and nepotism. Aside from these commonly identified activities, corruption may also involve practices that are legal in many countries. These practices are often manifested as areas of uncertainty between acceptable and unacceptable behavior, such as the practice of local companies bribing officials in foreign countries, government officials acquiring possession by their positions, members of poor or marginalized groups doing anything possible to support themselves and their families, giving of gifts as experienced in some cultures, the allowance of high-powered lobbyists in public offices, and where private interests take control of certain functions of the state.

No country or state has been proven or can be said to be entirely exempt from any impairment of integrity or moral principle. The evidence for this is found in the fact that corruption can: happen anywhere; from corporate workplaces, across the various arms of government, the courts of law, media houses, and in civil society, even to sectors such as healthcare and welfare provision and education to environmental infrastructure and organized sporting activities, involve anyone; including politicians, government officials, public servants, business people or individual members of the public, happens in the shadows; aided by seasoned and well-placed enablers such as bankers, lawyers, and accountants, mysterious financial systems and obscure shell companies that permit illegal schemes to thrive and conceal wrongfully accumulated wealth, adapt; when set up in different contexts and changing circumstances, resulting from amendment in rules and legislation, geographical borders, and evolving technology.

In addition, corrupt practices usually occur at different scales, varying as a function of the number of people involved and how frequently it occurs in any given community. In this time and age, it is becoming increasingly important to consider corruption as a fundamental threat to the proper functioning of any society and the whole world at large. This is largely due to the detrimental costs of corrupt practices with implications on individual freedom and the rule of law, public participation and trust in government, available opportunities for building and growing personal wealth, and even negatively impacting policies to give our environment a healthy and sustainable future.

Beyond recognizing the various forms by which corruption is perpetrated in society, it is expedient to start seeking ways to combat corruption and inhibit its prevalence in our local areas and the global community. Corruption is generally regarded as a global problem, and in this sense, it needs solutions that are viable at the global level. But quite of similar importance, these solutions should be readily applicable to the local political and social context to ensure widespread adoption by individuals in differing societies, be they educated or illiterate.

On that note, there is a need to create awareness in our local environments. Advocating the participation of a wide range of stakeholders in public sector processes is especially important in this regard. Citizens in the society should be made conscious of government expenditure, be able to track receipt of supplies from the government by schools, fill out surveys or notes about the performance of public officials, be willing to form and join groups that are interested in opposing corruption through protests, marches, demonstrations, and rallies, ask for election pledges from prospective party candidates, and create petitions to effect the change they want.

Furthermore, we must encourage credible deterrence through enforcement mechanisms, pass into law rules that indicate legal prohibitions against corrupt practices, punishment for defaulters in both the private and public sectors, and reward systems for appropriate behavior, as well as building strong and independent audit and justice systems, including a well-resourced judiciary and oversight office to field complaints. There is also a need to create an environment that enables strong and accountable civil society organizations that provide oversight of government. When this is the predominant condition of our society, it will produce a curative effect on political will that necessitates appropriate action from politicians at all levels due to pressure.

Another method to consider is the invention and innovation of technology that will enable us to capture, analyze, and share data to prevent, detect and dissuade corrupt behavior. We can achieve this through building electronic platforms to manage government finances, biometric identification systems to uphold integrity in personnel and government payment systems thereby cutting out unwarranted 'settlement' of middle-men to ensure speedy services, and web-based platforms to clearly define the movement of government finances. We can also take additional steps in understanding how we can use blockchain and emerging technologies to better regulate negotiations involved in awarding government contracts and manage all procurement-related processes.

Finally, we must all come to the knowledge that cooperation between countries is essential to make it more difficult to practice corruption across transnational lines. This can be supported by the prevention of illegal money deposits in enigmatic financial institutions and combative anti-money laundering strategies. Likewise, we should gradually stimulate the use of social media by world leaders and political office holders as an outlet to speak and enlighten the masses concerning matters of the state and citizens should be urged also to use these mediums to monitor electoral processes in real-time.

In the end, reducing corruption involves the efforts of every state, country, or nation to develop a tendency to create, maintain and encourage sturdy political, social, economic, and fiscal institutions. Also, these institutions should at all levels of power and operation foster values of integrity, accountability, checks, and balances, and transparency. The fight to curb corruption is a challenge that promises to be long and arduous, however with continuous counteractive measures and the persevering of leaders and citizens all around the globe, we can make the world an honest place to live.