Need and Greed: Corruption Risks, Perceptions and Prevention in Humanitarian Assistance

Author(s)
Bailey, S.
Publication language
English
Pages
8pp
Date published
01 Sep 2008
Type
Research, reports and studies
Keywords
Accountability and Participation, Accountability to affected populations (AAP), Governance
Organisations
ODI
Emergency environments present unique
corruption risks for agencies operating within
them. Relief is delivered amidst weak or absent
rule of law, endemic corruption and immense
need. The capacities of governments and
humanitarian agencies to assist affected people
are stretched to the limit, and agencies are
under pressure to intervene rapidly. Assistance
is injected into resource-poor settings where
powerful people have disproportionate control
over resources. In the case of armed conflicts,
predatory economies often develop when
influential groups attempt to direct these
resources for their own ends.