• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News

    Is 90% of US aid to Afghanistan wasted?

    By Eliza Villarino // 12 January 2012
    Men and kids wait for humanitarian supplies at a refugee camp in Afghanistan. Photo by: Tania Reid / isadmedia / CC BY

    How much of U.S. aid really reaches Afghans? The question has prompted much debate lately as lawmakers try to eradicate waste and improve value for money.

    It can go low as 10 cents for every dollar, if you take away NGO overhead, U.S. bureaucratic costs and funding misuse of Afghan workers and officials, according to one former senior auditor for the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

    In a controversial op-ed for Politico, James R. Petersen notes that the biggest chunk of U.S. aid goes to NGO overhead, eating up 70 cents for every dollar. That’s more than twice the average (30 cents) for U.S. Agency for International Development projects in general.

    “Essentially, all U.S. aid programs are contracted out to nongovernmental organizations, which means that our agencies are really huge contract management centers,” says Petersen, who worked for six weeks in Afghanistan in 2011 and for seven months at the SIGAR headquarters in Washington, D.C.

    And according to him, “U.S. reconstruction effort is ultimately flying blind,” since SIGAR’s auditors rely on USAID’s summary financial data and NGOs’ management reports, which involve accounting data that are unaudited and unverified.

    To solve that, he recommends two steps:

    • SIGAR, USAID and the inspectors general of the State and Defense departments should audit and report on the money spent by NGOs that does not go directly to measurable aid activities. 

    • Inspectors general should “unleash their forensic auditors” to evaluate the accounting records at all NGOs, especially the cash transaction data. Petersen notes the data with USAID are “too cleansed and summarized to be of much use.”

    While Petersen focuses on NGOs, U.S. aid projects in Afghanistan also involves private companies. In fact, in its final report, the independent U.S. Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan said the problem of waste in both countries is partly attributed to overreliance on contractors.

    That said, USAID implementing partners will no doubt disagree with Petersen’s calculation. But in tough budgeting time, Petersen’s argument will surely cause ripples.

    Read more: 

    • Independent Panel Seeks Overhaul of US Wartime Contracting Practices

    • Top USAID Private Sector Partners: A Primer

    • Top USAID NGO Partners: A Primer

    • Afghanistan Rejects SIGAR’s Audit Findings, Denies Responsibility in US Aid Misuse

    • Senate Panel Seeks More Sustainability in US Afghan Aid Program

    Read more on U.S. aid reform online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.

    • Institutional Development
    • Trade & Policy
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Eliza Villarino

      Eliza Villarino

      Eliza Villarino currently manages one of today’s leading publications on humanitarian aid, global health and international development, the weekly GDB. At Devex, she has helped grow a global newsroom, with talented journalists from major development hubs such as Washington, D.C, London and Brussels. She regularly writes about innovations in global development.

    Search for articles

    Related Stories

    The Future of US AidState Department watchdog office expands foreign aid investigations

    State Department watchdog office expands foreign aid investigations

    European UnionIs the political environment in Brussels the worst ever for NGOs?

    Is the political environment in Brussels the worst ever for NGOs?

    The Trump EffectWhat African experts say must change about US foreign aid

    What African experts say must change about US foreign aid

    Global HealthTrump administration releases long-awaited global health strategy

    Trump administration releases long-awaited global health strategy

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Why critical minerals need global regulation
    • 2
      Opinion: Time to make food systems work in fragile settings
    • 3
      US lawmakers propose sweeping State Department reforms
    • 4
      Trump administration releases long-awaited global health strategy
    • 5
      Opinion: Women’s voices reveal a maternal medicines access gap
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement