The U.K. Department for International Development needs to make more and better use of on-the-ground implementers, contractors and expert advisers to help improve its poor record at combating corruption that plagues the lives of the world’s poorest people, according to a commissioner at the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.
ICAI unveiled this week a new report that slammed the aid agency for weak understanding of corruption and lack of a systematic approach to tackling it.
The report, which focused on Nigeria and Nepal and drew heavily from surveys of DfID beneficiaries, highlighted how poor people suffer disproportionately from the effects of often endemic corruption, being forced to pay bribes for access to everything from health care to education and employment. ICAI slapped an amber-red alert — its second-worst possible scoring — on the overall effectiveness of the U.K. aid agency’s anti-corruption efforts, and DfID even scored a red alert (the worst possible score) on “learning” about anti-corruption.
About the author
Helen Castell@flippinowl
Helen Castell is a London-based financial journalist with nearly 20 years’ experience covering trade, energy and risk for TXF, Shares Magazine, Global Trade Review, Newsbase, Trade Finance Magazine and other Euromoney publications. At Devex, she writes about development banking, private sector engagement and funding trends. She studied English Literature at Sheffield University and International Journalism at London’s City University, and speaks English, Spanish and Japanese.
