U.N. report lays bare culture of corruption in Afghanistan

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Read all 46 pages of the report here.


U.N. report lays bare culture of corruption in Afghanistan
By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, January 20, 2010

LONDON — Bribes and kickbacks paid to local Afghan government and security officials are equivalent to roughly a quarter of the war-torn country’s legitimate gross domestic product, according to a U.N. report released Tuesday.

In all, Afghans paid $2.5 billion over the past year in bribes and other illicit payments to everyone from government officials to policemen, the report states. Throw in the $2.8 billion made off the country’s drug trade, and that’s tantamount to roughly half of Afghanistan’s GDP.

The report was based on a U.N. survey of 7,600 people in 12 provincial capitals and 1,600 villages across Afghanistan. It was conducted from late 2008 to late 2009.

In general, 59 percent of respondents regard corruption as the biggest problem in their everyday lives, ahead of security and unemployment, according to the report by the U.N.’s Office of Drugs and Crime.

While a patronage system has long existed in Afghan culture, the instances of bribery and the money involved have increased as the country’s drug trade exploded in recent years, Antonio Maria Costa, UNODC’s executive director, said Tuesday during a forum at London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67346