If our foreign aid is to work, we have to stop throwing money around blindly
A new report by spending watchdog the National Audit Office has generated concern about UK foreign aid by revealing that allegations of fraud have risen more than four-fold in five years.
Aid always has an element of risk, which agencies such as the Department for International Development (DfID) strive to keep to acceptable levels. But there is a broader problem globally with the way that development funds are allocated.
Priorities are set based on a myriad of inputs, including a nation’s diplomatic, economic and even military objectives, and political reality. Things that look bad in tabloid newspapers tend to lose funding.