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Since 2007, NOK 130 million have been recovered in development assistance.
Last year Norway received three reimbursements to support projects in Malawi.
Ernest Mwale, Reuters / NTB scanpix
Published:
Recently, Aftenposten / E24 wrote that Norway is sending more and more money to organizations in some of the most corrupt regimes in the world.
In the past 13 years, Norway has provided NOK 393 billion in development assistance.
During the period, NOK 130 million were recovered, only 3 per thousand. The reason is the misuse of money.
– It’s a large amount. We have zero tolerance for corruption. It is important to remember that in some of these countries, corruption is historically linked and enshrined in culture.
This is what Secretary of State Marianne Hagen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) says.
The amount in the cases varies from 300 crowns to several million crowns.
Aftenposten / E24 has obtained information on the five most important cases of 2019 and 2020.
Threats and extortion: 1.2 million
In Malawi, money was given to an organization, through the Atlas Alliance and the Norwegian Handicap Association (NHF).
Here there were several cases of fraud.
– Two or three employees lied, cheated and swindled money.
Eirin Næss-Sørensen tells Aftenposten / E24 this. She leads international work at NHF.
The organization’s employees were threatened and pressured to carry out certain transfers. They were also pressured to lie to the NHF.
– The management abused power. The employees were threatened with dismissal, adds Næss-Sørensen.
– Is it difficult to be in control?
– We operate in very corrupt countries and it is difficult to have total control. We were not present enough here. They took advantage of that. If people want to cheat on you and steal, they can. Since the case failed, we have worked hard to prepare our monitoring routines.
A total of NOK 1.2 million was claimed.
– Does not support corrupt states
Norwegian development assistance is complex. Norad manages half the budget. The rest is the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.
Norad is the Directorate for Development Cooperation, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Most of the aid goes to multilateral and humanitarian organizations. Little goes directly from Norway to another state.
– Norway does not support corrupt states. We support efforts, often vital humanitarian aid. Also in countries where there is a high degree of corruption, says Hagen.
Organizations operate on the ground themselves or pass the money on to local partners.
Therefore, Norwegian development aid can pass through the United Nations or various organizations before it kills those who carry out the projects.
These organizations often have large devices to prevent abuse.
If local partners misuse the support, the organization that received money from Norway is liable. Then they must return the support.
Zero tolerance
Norway has zero tolerance for corruption. They also demand this from the organizations they work with.
– All of our grant agreements must contain sanctions in case of breach of the agreement, says Hagen in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, an assessment, discussed in Aftenposten / E24 on Wednesday, claims that Norway does not have a good enough vision of how organizations work.
Most of the cases involve embezzlement, corruption and theft.
– We do not accept large or small scams with Norwegian funds, says Hagen.
Breach of routines: 10 mill.
Last year, Norad demanded support for projects in Congo and Gabon.
The Congo Basin Forest Fund managed the money. They are subject to the Bank of Africa.
The fund aims to combat climate change and poverty and operates in ten countries.
In the cases, various breaches have been revealed. Violation of procurement routines is one example.
Here, the Gabonese and Congolese authorities have acknowledged corruption.
Svend Skjønsberg in Norad reports to Aftenposten / E24.
Norway claimed more than NOK 10 million.
Here, residents of the Congo receive help from humanitarian worker Martine Milonde. She works for World Vision in Beni, eastern Congo.
Al-hadji Kudra / AP funeral
Fraud and nepotism: 2.5 million.
Last year, Norwegian Church Aid was scammed by partners in Pakistan.
Norway had contributed NOK 2.5 million here. Everything was required to be returned.
Among other things, forgeries, fraud and “serious cases of nepotism” were discovered.
The scam is described as very extensive.
– A partner withdrew money from a project we support, says Arne Næss-Holm. He is the foreign director of Norwegian Church Aid.
Næss-Holm says they operate in the most corrupt country in the world. So risk comes with the purchase, he says.
They have good systems and routines to detect corruption, he emphasizes.
Serious weaknesses: 1.5 mill.
When Norad supported an organization in Myanmar, significant shortcomings were also revealed.
The support went through the umbrella organization Digni and its member organization Stefanusalliansen.
Here, serious weaknesses related to the use of funds, routines and audits were found.
Norad demanded the return of NOK 1.5 million. They think Digni hasn’t had good enough control.
Digni receives NOK 186 million annually from Norad. The money is distributed to more than 100 development projects under the auspices of Dignis members.
Stefanus Alliance is a humanitarian organization with a special focus on freedom of religion.
I think they have good control
Jan Egeland is the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
– Every day we spend a lot of time and effort to make sure that the funds reach the people who need help the most, he says.
According to Egeland, there are few fields that are as well controlled as Norwegian development assistance.
Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Stenersen, Tor
– I am sick of teachers who, failing, think about lack of control, corruption and other problems with aid. They must understand how our systems really work.
– How much abuse is detected?
– Especially. Cases of as few as 100 crowns are discovered and reactions are generated, says Egeland.
It refers to discussions about whether the zero tolerance regime has gone too far.
– Increasingly, emergency aid is going to well-paid auditors, consultants and evaluation teams. Large sums of money are spent searching for petty crimes.
Top of the iceberg
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norwegian Church Aid believe the scope is greater than reported.
In countries affected by war, it is more difficult to exercise control.
– Unfortunately, I don’t think we can capture everything. There is a lot of advanced fraud and corruption, says Næss-Holm.
