American audit says US aid to Pakistan’s tribal regions failing to strengthen institutions

Audit says US aid program failing in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — A $46 million American aid program aimed at strengthening the government in Pakistan’s tribal regions and blunting the appeal of al-Qaida and the Taliban has achieved little since it began two years ago, a U.S. government audit found.

The program is one of several U.S. initiatives in the tribal areas close to the Afghan border and elsewhere in Pakistan, which is set to receive $7.5 billion in humanitarian assistance from American taxpayers over the next five years.

The audit shows the difficulties facing the Obama administration as it seeks to boost aid to the violence-stricken region. The strategy is to convince impoverished residents that their interests are best served by the government, not by extremists who have seized control of much of the area.

The program, run by Development Alternatives Inc., a U.S.-based private contractor, was set up to improve the performance of local aid groups and the government agency that oversees the tribal areas. Both need to be strong to ensure future aid money is spent effectively.

The audit, dated Jan. 28 and posted on the Web site of the office of the inspector general, said “little progress” had been made toward either goal of the program. It said the program “got off to a slow start” and had been delayed by confusion over a new U.S. government initiative to direct money through Pakistani institutions, not U.S. contractors.

As a result of the new strategy, it said DAI did not know whether its contract would be terminated, meaning many key programs were put on hold. The audit added the contractor had requested $15 million in June 2009 from the government to continue with the work, but was only given $4.7 million.

The audit did mention some successes, such as the creation of a public outreach campaign promoting peace and 74 project and financial management training events held for more than 1,000 local government workers.

Still, it criticized the program’s planning and implementation. It said a plan to install computers and train staff to use them at the agency’s headquarters in Peshawar had barely got off the ground and had set unrealistic goals. It noted 340 of the 400 computers delivered remained boxed up and unused.

It said the program had so far only spent $15.5 million in what was supposed to be a three-year initiative.

No one working from the program was available to comment on the audit.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Rick Snelsire said the American government’s aid arm was working to address the concerns raised in the audit. He said one reason for the apparent slow progress was the difficult security environment in the northwest.

Since 2008, attacks by militants have spiked in the northwest. All foreign staff working on U.S. government projects were withdrawn from Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, after a U.S. aid worker was killed in 2008.

The Office of the Inspector General is responsible for detecting and preventing fraud, waste and law violations and promoting efficiency in U.S. government-funded aid operations.