The $1.5 billion a year US aid package proposed for Pakistan has raised hackles among many US aid groups who worry that channeling big amounts of money through the country''s fragile government will backfire. US-based groups with projects in Pakistan have met several times in recent weeks with Obama administration officials to voice concern over the handling of the five-year package, which will be tackled differently from previous aid.
"We have highlighted the risk of running large amounts of money through the government of Pakistan and that this would end up biting them," said one aid group executive. Aside from worries US funds are more likely to be lost to corruption if distributed through the government, there are also fears US-based groups working in Pakistan will lose some of their own funding in favour of local NGOs and civil society groups.
A senior US official, who declined to be named or quoted directly without government clearance, said there was a plan to move away from so-called big-box contracts favoured by the Bush administration, which were often handled by big US firms. The official also said some contracts are likely to be cut, and so far one has been scrapped of the 40 or so US-funded projects in Pakistan - a water project run by a consortium called QED.
Questions are also being raised by some officials inside the Obama administration and last month a senior US Agency for International Development economist wrote his opinions in a seldom-used "dissent channel" at the State Department. The economist complained of "contradictory" objectives for the Pakistan program and said few Pakistani firms and non-governmental organisations could meet the stringent financial management and audit requirements for US funding.
But the senior US official involved in the aid plan said accounting firms were being hired in Pakistan to "certify" ministries to ensure they were competent to handle the money and other safeguards would be in place in local NGOs. The State Department''s aid co-ordinator for Pakistan, Robin Raphel, has nearly finished a review of current US-funded projects there - amounting to about $400 million a year - and is drawing up a list of how new money should be spent.
Raphel is expected in Washington next week to answer questions from Congress as well as administration officials about the planned mix of aid and what safeguards will be used to meet legal requirements for US taxpayer funds. US NGOs declined to publicly criticise the Obama administration but several have voiced frustration over what appeared to be a lack of coherence in the US approach and fears money would not reach the right places.
"We are in an ongoing dialogue with the administration and we welcome the opportunity to help them develop a more efficient aid strategy," said Sam Worthington, who heads InterAction, an umbrella group representing over 150 US NGOs of whom about a third have programs in Pakistan. "We recognise that there is a changed process and that has people nervous until we have clarity over what is going to come out of that," added Worthington.
In the meantime, Pakistani aid groups are gearing up for new funds, said Zulfiqar Ali, a Pakistani development consultant, adding there were also concerns locally about the government''s involvement.
"One, it may delay the implementation, and delay the payment. And second, they think that the government of Pakistan officials would be expecting their own cut, commission, on the work that they give out so they see a higher potential for corruption," said Ali. Underlying all this is a mistrust of US intentions. "There is lot of suspicion, even when the Americans build schools or hospitals. The general feeling is that this is being given as sort of a bribe and there are ulterior motives," said Ali.