Corruption perceptions and risks in humanitarian assistance: an Afghanistan case study

This report sets out to examine the risks of
corruption faced by those delivering and receiving
humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. It is
drawn from a limited amount of fieldwork and
interviews, and so should be seen very much as a
preliminary effort to understand the issues and
dimensions of the problem. However, the picture it
paints is a devastating one, suggesting a clear
need for more concerted action on the part of the
government, aid agencies and donors to address
corruption risks. The report insists on the
importance of managing corruption risks in an
environment where needs are important and
resources very limited.
The report focuses on a particular case study – the
delivery of aid to a long established IDP camp in
Herat in the period 2001 to 2003. Capacity,
resource and security constraints limited the
scope of the research to this one case study and
more general interviews in Kabul, but the wealth of
information generated from this short study
demonstrates what is possible, and suggests the
clear need for further work.