U.S. Foreign Assistance and Corruption: It’s All Relative
This is a joint post with Sarah Jane Staats.
Corruption remains a major concern of foreign aid policymakers. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was created, in part, to address this concern by working with well-governed, poor countries that must pass a control of corruption indicator. This also means the MCC is held to a higher standard and is often the first aid agency forced to respond to corruption concerns. Our message to the policymakers: keep in mind that corruption, especially in poor countries, is relative.
Reps. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) raised concerns about corruption with MCC CEO Daniel Yohannes in recent hearings before the House foreign aid appropriators and authorizers. Both Lowey and Ros-Lehtinen are right to focus on corruption and to have concerns especially in MCC countries. But it is important to unpack what corruption means in—and across—developing countries to calibrate responses to these concerns.
