Bribery as Reported by the Victims, as Ignored by the West
Last week the UN statistics office published a damning report concerning corruption in Afghanistan. It was one of those studies, so often commissioned in the developing world, which produces shocking numbers, yet draws frighteningly obvious conclusions.
At the heart of the findings; a blunt assertion made by 59% of Afghan citizens that corruption exists as the greatest problem facing the war torn nation. More pressing than security, more important than unemployment, Afghans overwhelmingly seek the eradication of bribery.
The study, compiled by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, questioned 7,600 people from 1,600 villages. While it was broad in scope the report pointed to trends that exist throughout the entire country; of those citizens who have had contact with a government official in the past 12 months 40% have been asked for a bribe. Those bribes, all told, add up to $2.5 billion US, or a quarter of Afghanistan's gross domestic product.
These numbers clearly present a sad paradox:
Eliminating bribery = a good thing
Eliminating 25% of the countries GDP = significantly less good
Perhaps our priorities in Afghanistan are a tad misguided. Perhaps we need to be working to address the most urgent need facing Afghanistan, as identified by Afghans themselves.
Bluntly put corruption is a vital industry in Afghanistan. Quite likely the second largest industry after the opium trade. While bribes constitute a quarter of the Afghan GDP, Opium reigns supreme accounting for half the entire figure. We can train all the Afghan police we want, but there's little they can do if crime and corruption makes up 75% of the local economy.
After eight years on the ground in Afghanistan maybe it's time we reassess the focus of our efforts. It's Time we align our work with the needs of the local population. Work to establish indigenous industries and stable regional governance that can create jobs and facilitate administration. Security is important...but its true importance can really only be measured by the demand expressed by the locals on the ground. If anything, last weeks reports indicates that Afghans seek a society where they can freely pursue a livelihood unencumbered by corruption.
Ironically, while average Afghans are wasting money on needless bribes, the West is wasting needless money by not addressing the, clearly, pressing issue facing Afghanistan, corruption.
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