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That's a big number, but I'm not shocked by the error/graft, nor its source (poor accounting). A well-regarded development organization I used to work for went

That's a big number, but I'm not shocked by the error/graft, nor its source (poor accounting). A well-regarded development organization I used to work for went through a quiet reorganization in 2016 when a few million dollars came up missing. It turned out that just getting materials to rural places in Sub-Saharan Africa was really, really hard to do without graft along the way. I don't know how things ultimately resolved, but it's not obvious to me that effective countermeasures would have been cheaper than letting some of the money leak out in the delivery chain. It's an inherently hard problem to disburse development aid to the right parties in the right amounts.

lbriner 2y ago
Deciding where to spend it is most certainly hard but accounting for it is very easy. Even if the money was $100K to Jimmy to get the stuff into Algeria, there would be some tracking and accountability. It's weird that with the sort of numbers that could lift some countries out of poverty, we can't even write something down in a spreadsheet.
- fwip 2y ago
  I think the top-level spreadsheets are accurate - it's the spreadsheets five layers down that might have errors (intentional and otherwise).
- ethbr1 2y ago
  At the end of the day it's people time. And people time costs money. So how many dollars et al. do you want you want to spend documenting how you spent your dollars? Presumably < 100% and > 0%? But what's the right number? If we spend $1 in accounting for every $1 spent on mission, and that produces a perfect audit trail, is that too much or little?
- kylehotchkiss 2y ago
  > It's weird that with the sort of numbers that could lift some countries out of poverty This is not how you end poverty. This is how you pad the pockets of whatever entity is best positioned to receive that amount. It will promptly be flown with those people to the Dubai gold market where an all-gold suit will be purchased and the rest of the country never sees a dime. Ultimately self sufficiency needs to be obtained in a stable and scalable way and then the proceeds can distribute across the economy better.
kylehotchkiss 2y ago
> getting materials to rural places in Sub-Saharan Africa was really, really hard to do without graft along the way "Graft" shouldn't need to be an unknown monetary amount missing from a bank account, especially for something like transporting things: * Can they wear hidden cameras/microphones to get the amounts documented? * Are they using local transport companies and staff or are they valiantly parading their bright white Hiluxes and Range Rovers as UN type orgs are prone to do, which attracts an undue amount of attention? At some point the transport cost becomes a fixed cost of whatever that can at least be reported back to donors. Nobody donating to this type of cause expects transport to be a small number.

lbriner 2y ago

Deciding where to spend it is most certainly hard but accounting for it is very easy. Even if the money was $100K to Jimmy to get the stuff into Algeria, there would be some tracking and accountability. It's weird that with the sort of numbers that could lift some countries out of poverty, we can't even write something down in a spreadsheet.

fwip 2y ago
I think the top-level spreadsheets are accurate - it's the spreadsheets five layers down that might have errors (intentional and otherwise).
ethbr1 2y ago
At the end of the day it's people time. And people time costs money. So how many dollars et al. do you want you want to spend documenting how you spent your dollars? Presumably < 100% and > 0%? But what's the right number? If we spend $1 in accounting for every $1 spent on mission, and that produces a perfect audit trail, is that too much or little?
kylehotchkiss 2y ago
> It's weird that with the sort of numbers that could lift some countries out of poverty This is not how you end poverty. This is how you pad the pockets of whatever entity is best positioned to receive that amount. It will promptly be flown with those people to the Dubai gold market where an all-gold suit will be purchased and the rest of the country never sees a dime. Ultimately self sufficiency needs to be obtained in a stable and scalable way and then the proceeds can distribute across the economy better.

kylehotchkiss 2y ago

> getting materials to rural places in Sub-Saharan Africa was really, really hard to do without graft along the way "Graft" shouldn't need to be an unknown monetary amount missing from a bank account, especially for something like transporting things: * Can they wear hidden cameras/microphones to get the amounts documented? * Are they using local transport companies and staff or are they valiantly parading their bright white Hiluxes and Range Rovers as UN type orgs are prone to do, which attracts an undue amount of attention? At some point the transport cost becomes a fixed cost of whatever that can at least be reported back to donors. Nobody donating to this type of cause expects transport to be a small number.