Tackling Corruption in Afghanistan: A Report from Kabul

Tackling Corruption in Afghanistan:A Report from Kabul Cheryl Benard Elvira Loredo May 21, 2010

Corruption Is a Major Issue of Concern for Afghans • Rated second most corrupt country in world by Transparency International • Corruption affects everything from small daily interactions to large government contracts, appointment of leading officials • Public is strongly aware of issue • Major topic of discussion in media and civil society • It is undermining popular faith in international community, Karzai government, and prospect of progress in their lives

RAND Conducted Three-Day Workshop in Kabul to Accomplish Three Objectives Take Broad Core Sample of Afghan Civil Society • Assess strength and capacity of civil society activists in Afghanistan . . . • Who are they? • What are they currently doing? • How much are they willing to do in the future? • Identify those with potential and meet with them separately • Encourage establishment of civil society network to focus on issue of corruption at a grassroots level High Commission MPs Institutions & Officials Conventional & New Media Media & Educators Nati’l/Intern’l; Issue-specific & issue-inclusive NGO Popular campaigns; Advocacy groups Activists

The Workshop Narrowed Focus Over Three Days Day 1 • 40 participants within anti-corruption community • Intro on official Afghan gov stance and on extent of corruption in country • Session 1: Surfaced corruption experiences • Session 2: Identified broad set of possible approaches and programs • Session 3: Discussed implementation of selected subset of above

The Workshop Narrowed Focus Over Three Days Day 2 Day 1 • 40 participants within anti-corruption community • Intro on official Afghan gov stance and on extent of corruption in country • Session 1: Surfaced corruption experiences • Session 2: Identified broad set of possible approaches and programs • Session 3: Discussed implementation of selected subset of above • Follow-up meetings with individual activists and groups assessed as most promising during Day 1 • Meetings with additional activists identified during Day 1

The Workshop Narrowed Focus Over Three Days Day 2 Day 1 Day 3 • 40 participants within anti-corruption community • Intro on official Afghan gov stance and on extent of corruption in country • Session 1: Surfaced corruption experiences • Session 2: Identified broad set of possible approaches and programs • Session 3: Discussed implementation of selected subset of above • Follow-up meetings with individual activists and groups assessed as most promising during Day 1 • Meetings with additional activists identified during Day 1 • Site visits to view existing civic engagement programs • Continuation of meetings with additional activists • Meetings with experts, institutional actors (MPs, presidential advisor, academics, business leaders)

Summary of Key Findings • Current level of corruption is beyond what anyone considers acceptable • There is a lot of “finger-pointing” about blame for corruption, but some general obstacles underlie it • Groups and individuals are springing up to tackle it, but there is no coordination among the groups • There are possibilities for positive action • Focus should be on mid-range and not the top for now • International community must take lead on regulating its involvement

Today’s Briefing Focuses on Answering Three Questions • How bad is the corruption in Afghanistan? • What accounts for that corruption? • What is being done about addressing the corruption and how effective has it been?

Workshop Participants Related Striking Experiences of Corruption • Bribing tax agents before they will approve tax filings for businesses • Paying several bribes to pay electric bill • An Imam asking for a bribe before converting a non-Muslim bride to Islam

This Extreme Level of Corruption Was Confirmed by UNODC Presentation Bribes Are Rampant Throughout Public Administration Police Municipal, Provincial Officers Judges Prosecutors Doctors Members of Government Nurses Tax/Revenue Officers NGOs Teachers Customs Officers Members ofParliament Afghan Army 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Percentage of Adult Population Who Paid at Least One Bribe During the Last 12 Months by Type of Public Official Requesting Bribe

This Extreme Level of Corruption Was Confirmed by UNODC Presentation Bribes Are Rampant Throughout Public Administration Bribes Amounted to Nearly 1/4th of GDP Police Rural Urban National Municipal, Provincial Officers 1. Number of People Paying Money as Bribe 850,000 2,500,000 3,350,000 Judges Prosecutors Doctors 2. Mean Number of Bribes Paid/Yr Members of Government 4.5 5.2 Nurses Tax/Revenue Officers 3. Mean Bribe Amount (U.S.$) 139 166 NGOs Teachers Total Money Paid as Bribes (1 x 2 x x 3) (U.S.$ millions) Customs Officers 2,486.3 or 23.3% of GDP 615.7 1,870.6 Members ofParliament Afghan Army 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Percentage of Adult Population Who Paid at Least One Bribe During the Last 12 Months by Type of Public Official Requesting Bribe

Head of High Commission on Anti-CorruptionAddressed Reasons for Corruption • In speech, Osmani argued for three reasons beyond government control • Cultural decline causing corruption to seem acceptable • External money pouring in without accountability • Afghan government unable to act independently • Some challenged his view and urged the Afghan government to take more responsibility • Some ascribed blame to international community and high-level Afghan officials and to absence of any effective process • Versus Taliban who were seen at least as decisive

Other Participants Pointed the Blame for Corruption at Government • Corruption is pervasive and has much “top-cover” • Anti-corruption officials can’t achieve much EXCEPT with popular campaign or lobby that presses them so they can pass the pressure upward • The High Commission of Osmani is seen as well-intentioned but weak • Inherited most of staff from failed predecessor institution

Other Participants Pointed the Blame for Corruption at Government • Corruption is pervasive and has much “top-cover” • Anti-corruption officials can’t achieve much EXCEPT with popular campaign or lobby that presses them so they can pass the pressure upward • The High Commission of Osmani is seen as well-intentioned but weak • Inherited most of staff from failed predecessor institution • Consensus is that if he establishes a complaint mechanism, he can achieve some effect on mid- and lower-level corruption

But We Also Identified Some General Obstacles to Civil Society Activism in Afghanistan

There Is No Collaboration Now, But There Are Logical Opportunities for Collaborations Institutions Reporting & Investigating Media & Education NGOs Advocacy Group Advocacy Group Activists

There Are Some Bright Spots • Significant attention from independent media • Serious engagement within Parliament on subject of corruption • Strong interest and country-wide potential network from several key ministries [MRRD (CDCs) and Ministry of Culture and Youth] • Individual positive programs of NGOs • CIPE school curriculum against corruption • WADAN Malik training that includes rudimentary legal training

There Are Some Bright Spots • Significant attention from independent media • Serious engagement within Parliament on subject of corruption • Strong interest and country-wide potential network from several key ministries [MRRD (CDCs) and Ministry of Culture and Youth] • Individual positive programs of NGOs • CIPE school curriculum against corruption • WADAN Malik training that includes rudimentary legal training But activities need to be “streamed” into larger effort

Addressing Corruption Requires Deploying Three Approaches in Conjunction Legal Addressing Corruption Technical Social/Cultural/ Mindset & Attitudes

Attempts Have Been Made on All Three, but Not with Sufficient Effect or Determination Legal • Legal is the most difficult • Technical is promising and should be used much more—will face less resistance while still having a big effect Technical Social/Cultural/ Mindset & Attitudes • Social is easiest to implement but must be coordinated with the others

Recommendations • Focus on the mid-range bureaucracy of government services and justice system • Provide an index of technical approaches used elsewhere against corruption • Develop and make available and “idea bank” of anti-corruption efforts in other countries • Insist that international community review its role in setting conditions for corruption and waste

Tackling Corruption in Afghanistan: A Report from Kabul