Fight corruption? Send volunteers not money
on Phnom Penh Pal (Cambodia), 17/Dec/2013 10:30, 34 days ago
A few years ago, the head of the Kenyan anti-corruption unit was hiding in a dorm in Oxford University,on the run for his life. He had secretly taped Government ministers and officials discussing stealing millions of dollars. A lot of this was aid money.The Global Health Fund has justreleased a reportalleging that the Cambodian Ministry of Health has misused $12m of $87m aid money. Officials asked contractors to inflate costs to then give kickbacks to the same officials. Transparency International has announced that Cambodia is perceived to be the 17thmost corruption country in the world.It didn't take long for this guy to count his chickens. He was just sitting there waiting for a bus. With his chicken. Understandably, people in donor countries see this corruption and feel that their money is being wasted. I hate seeing this waste too, especially when you can see so clearly the difference the money could make. Some think that because some money is being wasted, donors should stop giving money. However, I think this is akin to turning off all the lights because the light bulbs lose some light energy through heat.Embezzling money is a type of waste and waste happens in all governments, and all organisations. However, wasted money can still create some benefits as rather than the money simply disappearing, it is being used for other purposes. In Cambodia, for instance, it used to buy Lexus or Range Rover cars, expensive watches and big houses. It is undeniable that this spending boosts the economy and creates wealth.By now, you may have gathered that these photos have nothing to do with the blog. But I thought that you might find them interesting. These are coconut sellers with their carts about to spread out and start selling. 50 cents for one. Now, obviously this is not the optimal outcome; the money would have greater benefit if used for other purposes and contributed to more equal development. But a lot of the wasted money is being spent in the developing country, injecting millions into the economy and creating jobs. Corruption and waste should not be ignored however, as the negative effects on society are clear– just readIt’s our turn to eat, which documents the corruption scandals in Kenya mentioned above. Donor and recipient countries should find ways to reduce corruption and waste.November was the end of the wet season, and there was a lot of flooding, and deaths, this year. I was out for an early morning cycle with the aim of crossing the bridge and coming back down the other side. It was there a few months ago!I believe that part of the answer is looking atVSO. VSO does not send money, VSO sends people. The aim is not to spend money and build things, but to spend time and build skills. The value is greater and the opportunity for misuse of funds, as there isn’t any, is small. VSO volunteers can also help build systems of working that make it harder for corruption to happen.Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USJAX-NONE/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}VSO can also waste money by having ineffective volunteers but there is not the same damaging effect on society of corrupt officials grabbing huge amounts of wealth. Also, working with a volunteer is hard; taking aid money is easy. Whether they want to work with volunteers is a good indication of whether they are serious about improving working methods and systems or not.Gordon