But in a country where conflict and insecurity persist, where the strength and power of the government is not guaranteed, and where drug production and trafficking is soaring – Afghanistan now accounts for 87 percent of global opium production, according to the International Crisis Group –corruption is just one problem among many. What, then, is the view from the ground? Are the people of Afghanistan concerned with the issue of corruption?

To find out how corruption in being fought in one of the world’s most challenging environments, Transparency Watch talked to two anti-corruption champions in Afghanistan. Karen Hussmann, who was on contract with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2006, went to Afghanistan to help develop an anti-corruption programme. Lorenzo Delesgues went to Afghanistan six years ago to continue his research in political science, and is responsible for setting up, in 2005, the first civil society organisation in Afghanistan to work on the issues of corruption and integrity called Integrity Watch Afghanistan.

Perceptions of corruption in Afghanistan
Karen Hussmann told Transparency Watch that she believes corruption is one of the greatest concerns to many people in the country. While quick to point out that her assessment is based only on anecdotal evidence, she says it seems to her corruption is more rampant than ever.
“People do think that there is a lot of corruption and that it is worse than in prior Afghan governments,” Hussman explains. “Talking to people gives one the perception that corruption has gotten worse over the last years.”

These observations are, however, supported by the findings of a soon-to-be-released perceptions survey of corruption in Afghanistan carried out by Integrity Watch Afghanistan. The survey found that 72 percent of respondents felt that their household was affected by corruption, among them 17 percent felt very affected by corruption..

And it is not just that people feel affected by corruption, but that they feel corruption is increasing. The same survey found that 60 percent of respondents considered the time between 2001 and now to be the most corrupt time in the last 50 years –compared to the nine percent who thought corruption was at its highest under the Taliban.

These findings beg the questions; how do people understand corruption in Afghanistan, and has the form of corruption changed over the last years?

Delesgues reports that in Afghanistan, many people see the impact of corruption on their life in the form of “a service that they see others getting that they cannot access themselves.” He sees examples of corruption in many areas of daily life, mainly civil servants asking for bribes for services. He speaks of the processes of getting a visa renewed or paying the electricity bills: “It can take sometimes 20 signatures. That creates a lot of opportunity.” In addition, Delesgues says that “grand corruption transactions exist in wide-scale and are related to the extraction of precious stones; to the drug trade; to land grabbing or to the appointment of positions.”

He also sees a change in the means to get access to corruption. Where corruption previously was more strongly linked with nepotism or political and ethnical ties, it is now switching to be more money based. This is a direct result of the enormous amount of donor funds being fed into the country and then being managed poorly. This is one of the reasons Delesgues believes “the problem is not strictly corruption per se,” he says, “but a lack of integrity, and with regards to donors, a lack of accountability. Hundreds of millions of dollars are coming into this country and we do not know precisely where the money has been spent.”

The problem is further compounded by the pervasive money stemming from the drug economy, which is used to undermine the fledgling state structures.

Despite the pessimistic view of Delesgues on donor funds, Hussman remains more optimistic, in particular, because there are signs the coordination of donors on anti-corruption work is increasing. She points to the close cooperation between major players such as the WB, ADB, UNDP, DFID, and UNODC working together on assisting the government to develop an anti-corruption road map laying out key areas for action, including sector vulnerability assessments, in preparation for the development of a well-targeted anti-corruption strategy.

What to do to fight corruption in Afghanistan?
The institutions dealing with corruption that already exist in Afghanistan are, according to Delesgues, “not well articulated and are often inefficient.” Hussmann agrees, and notes that the government’s anti-corruption agency, established in 2004, has not received much political, technical or financial support. “It is unclear whether it is a lack of capacity, a lack of priority, or a lack of political will,” she says. “Probably some mixture of all three.”

What is clear is the necessity of translating verbal commitments into tangible action. Considering the very weak institutional environment, limited capacities and many competing priorities, a careful approach has to be crafted. According to Hussmann, key areas of focus should be establishing basic public management systems, reducing opportunities for small-scale corruption at service delivery points, and engaging civil society and Parliament to hold the government accountable.

Indeed, an engaged civil society has a large role to play in ensuring verbal commitments translate into action. However, to-date an organised civil society engagement in this issue has been weak. But increasingly people are becoming more committed to the issues as they become more frustrated that their living conditions are not improving, while they notice those involved in the drug trade build even bigger, flashier houses in Kabul.

Delesgues recognised the need to have a civil society organisation working on issues of corruption and integrity to engage the Afghani people in the anti-corruption fight, and that their voice be strongly represented. “It was important to us that this organisation be seen as legitimate so we had to very careful how we set up the structure of the organisation,” This alone took seven months. But now we have a good mix of Afghan and outside experts, and we are working in partnership with the University of Kabul, donors, Afghan and international organisations such as Tiri and ODI.”

Established to work intensively on research to understand corruption in Afghanistan, discover the patterns of corrupt practices, and to create education and capacity building tools for public officials and the public, Integrity Watch Afghanistan will be an important rallying point to capture the hearts and minds of people on this issue.

Hussmann also is excited about the new organisation, but has a word of caution on anti-corruption in Afghanistan.“The big point is to consider realistic expectations of how long it takes for a society and institutions to develop, and Afghanistan is facing a Herculean task,” she says.” Many people, including the political leadership and, to some extent some international donors are looking for a quick fix, and looking to show results. But tangible results will take a long time and very determined action, from both the government and the international community, which needs to do more to increase its own transparency and accountability.”