Although this story is a little dated, I just came across it and thought that it deserves some attention. A few weeks ago, Oxfam suspended its reconstruction activities in tsunami damaged Aceh, citing corruption concerns. Certainly a sign of ethical behavior from an organization, which chose not to cover up the story. Interestingly, they do not seem to generate any negative press over the incident.
Most of the aid has been spent clearing up the debris, rebuilding homes and roads and providing assistance to the 500,000 people made homeless in the disaster. Oxfam said that it was not clear how much money it had lost, but the theft could run into tens of thousands of pounds. It added that it had decided to publicise the issue and act forcefully to stamp out the problem.
Same story highlights that
Last month Aidwatch, an Australian NGO, said that corruption was a serious hurdle to delivering aid to those who needed it most. It said in a report that big donors, such as the EU, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, were failing to monitor their projects properly.
How much of a problem is corruption in this reconstruction/aid effort? While searching for an answer, I came across today’s Aceh Diary post on the World Bank’s PSD Blog, which mentions the Oxfam story but goes into much more detail about the difficulties of working on the ground. One of the bigger problems, according to the story, are weak institutions and poor governance. Take a few minutes and read other stories in the Aceh Diary to get a more complete picture of what’s going on with the reconstruction effort.
Corruption, it seems, was a concern from the very beginning. I am always puzzled by how even in such dire conditions, people remain corrupt and profiteering persists. Moreover, related to the overall issue of corruption in aid, aren’t countries just shooting themselves in a foot by tolerating corruption in aid-related projects, especially given the increased attention being paid to these issues these days? There is a growing recognition that under the conditions of widespread corruption, aid does not reach its intended recipients in need and only perpetuates the inherent problems countries experience. Of course, countries are not corrupt – individuals are. In that sense, there is a lot to be said about methodological individualism and what drives such action.
Published Date: April 03, 2006