Pakistan floods: US reacts to "corruption" in relief efforts

A US govt official was questioned about corruption in flood relief operations in Pakistan. This is what he had to say...

Transcript

00:00The United States is giving millions of dollars to help the flood victims in Pakistan,

00:04but there are reports of massive corruption and looting of relief items.

00:09This is something we take very seriously, not only in Pakistan, but anywhere around the world.

00:30The United States is giving millions of dollars to help the flood victims in Pakistan, but

00:59there are reports of massive corruption and looting of relief items, especially in the province of

01:09Sindh. According to a UN report, out of $150 million, only $38 million has been converted

01:16into assistance. So, what measures are being taken to make sure that these millions of dollars go

01:23and reach to the deserving people, not to the looters? This is something we take very seriously,

01:28not only in Pakistan, but anywhere around the world where American taxpayer dollars

01:33are implicated and when there is an urgent humanitarian interest at stake, which is

01:40clearly the case in terms of the response to the flooding in Pakistan. A couple examples of what we

01:47do to monitor and to ensure that we have adequate tracking mechanisms in this context. First, USAID

01:55staff make regular trips to monitor our programs in the field. We have what's called a DART,

02:01a disaster assistance response team, and their members travel to more than 10 flood-affected

02:06districts in Balochistan and Sindh provinces. They did so around mid last month, so between

02:12September 14th and September 27th, to assess not only the humanitarian conditions, but also the

02:20response activities and to make sure that those response activities were meeting the humanitarian

02:25need. USAID partners work with local organizations that have extensive knowledge about the affected

02:31areas and their populations. We also are required to provide regular program updates on the progress

02:38of activities and any security concerns, and we require them, our partners, to immediately report

02:44any potential divergence, seizures, or losses immediately. But this is something we take very

02:50seriously.