Audit of the status of USAID"s anti-corruption efforts in assisted countries

The audit found that although the Agency has been instituting anti-corruption activities in varying degrees within the bureaus, it only recently began addressing the issue of corruption in a more focused way. Generally, the Bureaus for Europe and the New Independent States (ENI) and for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are making a greater commitment than the Bureaus for Africa (AFR) and for Asia Near East (ANE). The Bureau for Humanitarian Response (BHR) and the Global Bureau"s Economic Growth sector need to be integrated as players in the Agency"s effort to combat corruption as well. Because corruption is a greater obstacle to doing business in some geographic regions than others, the Agency should consider this in the strategy, design, and funding allocation for its anti-corruption activities. To promote a better-coordinated effort within the Agency and the international community, it is recommended that the Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination (PPC), in coordination with the Bureau for Management, establish a timetable for developing an Agency-wide policy to unify and guide the Agency"s anti-corruption effort. This policy should: (1) define what types of activities are considered anti-corruption activities and what are the priority program areas; (2) establish anti-corruption performance measures to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of these activities; (3) outline and discuss the importance of strategy development and programming guidance at the bureau level and consider requiring a discussion of corruption in program design documents; and (4) implement a system for identifying the obligations and expenditures of the Agency"s anti-corruption activities. A draft recommendation to formalize the Agency"s anti-corruption activities was deleted in deference to the preferences of management, which found the audit useful in focusing and stimulating the Agency"s anti-corruption efforts.