The U.S. Agency for International Development has come under fire for providing direct assistance to the Afghan government — despite the agency’s own findings of considerable weaknesses within several departments.
Critics of the U.S.-led reconstruction effort in Afghanistan say USAID is plowing ahead with plans to inject taxpayer dollars into Afghan ministries that lack the oversight and management capacity to safeguard them.
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• SIGAR chief to US contractors: Share information (before it’s too late)
We spoke with Assistant Administrator Larry Sampler in our studio in Washington, D.C. to learn how the agency has “pushed back” against those departments that have not implemented necessary oversight reforms, and what incentive exists for them to make the changes that would lead to better oversight.
Stay tuned out for more clips from our discussion in the coming days, and the full interview with Sampler will be published next week.
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About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
