By Jacey Fortin: Subscribe to Jacey's RSS feed
June 1, 2012 1:05 PM EDT
A new report from the World Bank
reveals a pattern of aid mismanagement in Somalia. In 2009 and 2010, about $130 million in
funds delivered to the transitional government seem to have disappeared into
thin air.
According to the Voice of
America, the report accused the government, which is backed by the United Nations, of vastly under-reporting its
revenues. It suffers from a lack of transparency, having no established
accounting system and no disclosure of financial statements.
For the poverty-stricken population
of Somalia, the mismanagement of sorely-needed
international aid is a serious affront that must be addressed immediately.
Somalia's former finance chief,
Abdirizak Fartaag, explained to VOA that many
donations go straight to officials rather than to the country's central bank.
"What we did observe is that in
relationship to the bilateral funds, donations often are given directly to
individual government members and do not exactly specify exactly who and
how," he said. "But such donations appear to have happened. But we
did find and did make observations that this money is not fully deposited in
the central bank; sometimes it's only partly."
The World Bank report was circulated
in Istanbul at a two-day conference on Somalia. On Thursday and Friday,
hundreds of Somali politicians and international dignitaries met there to
discuss the future of the East African country as it works to install a
permanent government over the next three months.
By August 20, Somali officials hope
that a newly-elected government will lead a unified Somalia away from its
tumultuous past.
But if this transition is to be
successful, it must be ensured that international aid money achieves its
intended purpose. Speaking in Istanbul on Friday, United Kingdom Foreign Minister William Hague told the BBC that an oversight committee in
Somalia was long overdue.
"The details of this need to be
finalized with the government of Somalia -- and frankly I was hoping it could
be done by now, by this conference in Istanbul -- if it is not signed here...
then it needs to signed in the next few weeks," he said.
The challenges facing Somalia have
persisted for decades; it has been a failed state since 1991, when dictatorial
president Siad Barre was overthrown by warring factions that subsequently
failed to unite the country. Since then, the country of nearly 10 million
people has been burdened with famine, drought, conflict, piracy, Islamist
militants and widespread poverty.
In the south, the terrorist group Al
Shabab has pursued a campaign of violence over the past several years. In the
North, which is comparatively stable, a high degree of autonomy has prompted
talks of secession. Along the eastern coast, pirates make a living committing
theft and kidnapping. And in the capital city of Mogadishu, African Union
troops from Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti address security
concerns that the transitional government cannot handle on its own.
In addition, the entire Horn of
Africa region was devastated by a famine in 2010 and 2011 that killed tens of
thousands of people.
During a London conference in February, representatives from 55
countries and international organizations worked to establish a unified
international plan to address Somalia's endemic problems. Millions of dollars
in aid were promised, and the number of African Union troops in Somalia was
boosted from about 12,000 to more 17,000 in order to ramp up the efforts to
flush Al Shabab militants from the country.
But now that the efficacy of
international aid has been called into question, attendants of the conference
in Istanbul are looking for ways to address discrepancies before more funds
disappear.
Part of the problem is a lack of
comprehensive data on the country. In March, the World Bank reported that
there are some signs of progress there, including modest GDP
growth of 2 to 3 percent over the past decade. But even that figure may be
skewed since it reflects a country-wide average and does not take into account
stark divisions within the country. Northern areas of Somalia, including
Somaliland and Puntland, are significantly more stable than central and
southern areas of the country. Those northern regions have operated with a high
level of de facto autonomy for years.
Somalia's apparent economic growth
could be attributed to northern progress or to niche markets, not necessarily
reflecting the reality in areas where poverty is most pronounced.
"Whatever growth has happened
has not translated into much development," explained the March report. "Poverty
remains rampant: 43 percent and 73 percent of the population live below
$1 and $2 per day, respectively. In GDP
per capita terms, Somalia is close to the bottom of African nations. On two
critical outcomes for health -- (child mortality of 180 deaths per 1000 births)
and education (average primary school enrollment at 22 percent) -- it performs
dismally. This is in spite of massive external inflows of cash in the form of
remittances, [official development assistance] and military assistance."
This week's World Bank report has
made it clear why this cash has not made yet made its intended impact. Going
forward, domestic politicians and officials abroad will be tasked to keep a
closer eye on aid efforts in Somalia, and the establishment of an oversight
institution will be one more responsibility for Somali politicians as they
cobble together their first permanent government in over 20 years.
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