Anti-Corruption

Countering Corruption is essential to fulfilling USAID’s mission of strengthening democratic societies, and advancing a free, just, and peaceful, world. To drive inclusive, sustainable, locally led development and safeguard our investments, USAID is making preventing and countering corruption a top priority. 

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Corruption undermines national security and the rule of law, stunts development and equitable economic growth, exacerbates the impacts of climate change and other shocks, and saps governments of legitimacy, eroding faith in democracy itself.  While systemic corruption remains a pervasive challenge within countries, it has also become a transnational threat that causes severe harm to communities and democratic institutions around the world. That is why USAID has placed countering corruption at the top of our development agenda. 

To tackle corruption, within countries and transnationally, and blunt corruption’s impact on development and democracy, USAID, through the Anti-Corruption Center (ACC) is taking concrete actions to mobilize broad-based coalitions and partnerships, galvanize collective action across sectors, elevate anti-corruption considerations in policy making, catalyze innovation and experimentation, and serve USAID and the broader community with cutting-edge and responsive technical leadership, support, and programming.

This includes:

• Expanding USAID’s efforts to address contemporary corruption threats to keep pace with the drivers, enablers, and manifestations of corruption today, especially transnational corruption. 
• Exercising holistic and responsive leadership to marshal USAID’s range of capabilities during pivotal moments for anti-corruption reform and backsliding.
• Countering corruption across sectors to prevent corruption that impedes development progress and tackle corruption from multiple angles.
• Forging new partnerships and coalitions to spur and sustain anti-corruption progress.
• Institutionalizing anti-corruption as a priority across the U.S. Government and USAID’s strategy, policy, and planning processes and frameworks.
• Safeguarding development and humanitarian assistance from corruption risk to preserve public resources for development, protect foreign assistance from diversion, and avoid unintended consequences of international aid.

Learn More

• Anti-Corruption Policy: Through the Anti-Corruption Center, USAID is robustly supporting the U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, which emphasizes the transnational aspects of corruption and highlights opportunities to leverage foreign assistance to counter it. Consistent with the Strategy, USAID’s Anti-Corruption Policy solidifies the Agency’s emphasis on transnational corruption, grand corruption, and kleptocracy, while underscoring the need to build new partnerships to take on these contemporary corruption threats. 
• Transforming the Fight Against Corruption Initiative: To catalyze new programs and partnerships across all sectors and advance the new directions called for in the Policy, USAID launched the Transforming the Fight Against Corruption (TFAC) Initiative. TFAC combines regional and global programs USAID announced at the 2021 Summit for Democracy with anti-corruption work at the country level to block corrupt actors from siphoning off their nation’s wealth and shield partner countries from corrupt internal and foreign influence. Through TFAC, and in partnership with local, regional, and international actors, USAID will constrain opportunities for corruption, raise the costs of engaging in it, and incentivize integrity in the public and private sectors. 
  • Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal (PIDR): The transnational nature of corruption requires a global response. USAID has initiated a bold suite of programs that address the localized drivers, enablers, and manifestations of corruption. TFAC includes several USAID programs announced at the 2021 Summit for Democracy, with updates in 2023, such as
    • The Empowering Anti-Corruption Change Agents Program, which boosts the work of anti-corruption change agents and investigative journalists around the world who seek to detect and expose corruption, and empower them with the tools and coalitions needed to strengthen their reform campaigns, advocate for and demand change, operate in safety, and engage in collective and collaborative actions. 
    • The Global Accountability Program, which strengthens the resilience of country systems to kleptocracy and transnational corruption - including by strengthening defenses and responses to illicit finance, money laundering, and strategic corruption - and enhances international cooperation and collaboration in preventing, mitigating, and responding to these challenges.
    • The Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development, which builds coalitions and sources innovative solutions to curb the threat of transnational corruption in four main areas: illicit finance, trafficking in commodities, global supply chains, and public and private integrity. 
    • The Anti-Corruption Response Fund, which enables USAID to support countries experiencing either anti-corruption backsliding, or windows of opportunity to test and pilot new means of tackling corruption, including by supporting implementation of Summit for Democracy commitments or innovating new approaches in line with USAID Anti-Corruption Policy.  
    • Financial Transparency and Integrity Accelerator: As part of the second Summit for Democracy, USAID hosted an event to launch the Financial Transparency and Integrity (FTI) Cohort’s Pledge and Call to Action and announced the FTI Accelerator. The Accelerator  serves as the strategic umbrella for USAID to surge support for and ensure sustained progress on priorities identified by the Summit’s U.S. government-co-led FTI Democracy Cohort: implementation of  beneficial ownership requirements; transparent and accountable public procurement; and  addressing the professional “enablers” of corruption. 
• Integrity for Development Campaign: Through the Integrity for Development Campaign, USAID is working to increase donor resources for anti-corruption, especially in environments where the international community is making major development investments, such as in climate finance. This year-long campaign calls on bilateral donors and foundations to join forces with USAID and increase their investments in building integrity. 
• Global Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: USAID is also enhancing support to critical multi-stakeholder initiatives that focus on anti-corruption, transparency, open government, and accountability, including by providing direct funding to and support  for implementation of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

Resources

• Read Administrator Samantha Power’s remarks, “The Face of Modern Corruption,” at the International Anti-Corruption Conference Plenary Session.
• As referenced in Administrator Power’s June 7, 2022 speech, USAID launched a dekleptification guide—a handbook to help partner countries that aim to dismantle kleptocratic structures in transition periods when political will for reform is very high. 
• USAID also published the Guide to Countering Corruption Across Sectors—practical, practitioner-oriented guidance for USAID staff, implementers, and the broader anti-corruption community on identifying and capitalizing on opportunities to address corruption through sectoral approaches. 
• To view these and additional anti-corruption tools, visit our resource page.