Sunday, September 6, 2015

SIGAR Audit - $ for Refugees Wasted

ANCOP provides clothing to refugee children
in refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan.
 Photo by Senior Airman Christopher Hatch,
 NTM-A DVIDS, July 2011.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) published an audit on September 3, 2015. about U.S. assistance intended to support Afghan refugees and returnees. Some of its findings include amount of money spent ($950 million), reliance on Pakistani and Iranian governments (both very trustworthy?) to identify the number of Afghan refugees, weaknesses in UNHCR and Pakistani government processes that limit the ability to obtain accurate data, the Afghan governments' limited progress in implementing its refugee strategy, and the role the corruption and limited ministerial capacity plays in the refugee situation. Overall the audit seems to point to yet another example of lots of money intended for a good purpose getting siphoned off by corrupt Afghan officials, lack of ministerial capacity, and improper oversight by U.S. officials. But, after all, in the overall scheme of all things Afghanistan $1 billion is just a drop in the bucket! Read Afghan Refugees and Returnees: Corruption and Lack of Afghan Ministerial Capacity Have Prevented Implementation of a Long-Term Refugee Strategy, SIGAR 15-83 Audit Report, August 2015. www.sigar.mil/pdf/audits/SIGAR-15-83-AR.pdf

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