tsunami/2005/in focus/news room

In the wake of disaster: Preventing corruption in tsunami relief and reconstruction

Corruption in relief and reconstruction efforts undermines the very spirit of humanitarian action; its prevention is key to ensuring effective and equitable assistance to those in greatest need.

In the space of a few hours on 26th December 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe on an unprecedented scale. The disaster left nearly 300,000 dead and thousands of coastal communities destroyed. One estimate of the cost of recovery for the affected region is US$ 11.5 billion (Asian Development Bank Review, April 2005). In response, a massive humanitarian effort ensued. Members of the public, governments, charities and international organisations pledged billions of dollars in emergency aid and longer term assistance to affected countries. The sudden flow of large amounts of money, goods and services to the affected region has, however, fed widespread fears of monetary losses due to corruption, waste and mismanagement.

Corruption in the delivery of aid undermines the very spirit of humanitarian action: to 'do no harm'. Relief supplies - including food, water, medicines and shelter- can, as a result of corruption, be diverted away from affected communities or distributed inequitably. This, in turn, can have fatal consequences for many individuals and can force desperate households to engage in other, often illegal, means in order to survive. The long term reconstruction required after major disasters is particularly prone to corruption due to a tendency to bypass standard procedures to ensure rapid rebuilding. Improper planning or contracting processes that favour particular interest groups can, for example, result in sub-standard or inappropriately located roads and housing or lead to commercial interests acquiring land at the expense of former owners who are 'relocated'. Such outcomes ignore the needs of survivors, often further marginalising those from the poorest sections of society. Preventing opportunities for corruption in relief and reconstruction efforts is therefore key to ensuring effective and equitable assistance to those in greatest need.

Following the tsunami, Transparency International (TI) has worked to address the risk of corruption in relief and reconstruction efforts on several levels. Its national chapters in affected countries have sought to strengthen the accountability of relief operations by, for example, advocating proper accountability by all stakeholders, organising coalitions of local NGOs and communities to monitor aid delivery and establishing appropriate management systems for such NGOs.

At the regional level, the TI-Secretariat has helped bring together key stakeholders at an "Expert Meeting on Corruption Prevention in Tsunami Relief" held in Jakarta on 7-8 April 2005. The meeting, jointly convened with the Asian Development Bank and OECD, saw representatives of affected countries, international donors and civil society identify concrete measures to ensure that aid efforts are not tainted by corruption (see the key conclusions from the Jakarta Expert Meeting below).

Globally, TI plans to help build on the humanitarian community's work to increase transparency and accountability by facilitating dialogue on anti-corruption measures for future humanitarian crises. Ultimately, TI's goal is to help ensure that affected individuals and communities can rebuild their lives without enduring additional hardship due to the corrupt misuse of aid.

Key Conclusions:
Expert Meeting on Corruption Prevention in Tsunami Relief,
7-8 April 2005, Jakarta, Indonesia

Governments of affected countries, in dialogue with local communities, civil society, donors and the private sector, should commit to translate their national reconstruction strategies into prioritised, results-oriented operational programs.
Donors should commit to respect affected countries' leadership in relief and reconstruction efforts and help strengthen their capacity to exercise it.
From the earliest stages of relief, through to the design, implementation and evaluation of long-term projects, affected communities should be enabled to articulate their needs, assist in devising reconstruction plans, as well as evaluate end-results.
Governments, public and private donors, international organisations and local civil society organisations, should implement comprehensive and harmonised information strategies that uphold internationally recognised access to information standards. Such strategies should make use of appropriate formats and local languages to ensure ease of access by local communities.
All stakeholders should jointly commit to maintain adequate accounts and provide timely, transparent, comprehensive and accessible information on programming, aid flows and on expenditure.
National aid tracking systems should be developed containing information comprehensive enough to respond to government and donor exigencies yet simple enough to be accessible by affected communities. International organisations and donors should support the development and maintenance of such systems, as well as collate national information for cross-country comparison and implement compatible international tracking systems.
Effective internal control and external auditing should be complemented by community-led approaches, such as people's audits, that reinforce accountability towards affected peoples. Such approaches should be promoted by governments and by donors and all stakeholders should implement necessary action to rectify problems identified.
Affected countries should provide accessible grievance procedures including corruption reporting channels and protection for whistleblowers in the context of humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts, including for private and public sector employees, the media and the general public.
Donors should coordinate both with governments and among themselves and establish a regular dialogue to avoid duplication of programming. Similarly, non-governmental actors should also coordinate with governments and among themselves and seek, where appropriate, cooperation with other stakeholders.
Institutional capacity development should aim at ensuring that the public procurement legal and regulatory frameworks of affected countries adequately address disaster situations. Public contracts should contain an explicit anti-corruption clause embodying effective sanctions for breach, and ethics training and codes of conduct should be provided to procurement staff. While processes may be accelerated to reflect urgency, competitive bidding and other measures to promote cost effective corruption free procurement should not be bypassed except according to appropriate predetermined criteria in exceptional cases.
For aid funded procurement, donors should rely on the affected country's procurement system if the latter corresponds to mutually agreed standards or, if this is not the case, should agree to other harmonised systems.