Tackling fraud in UK aid: country case studies
A review assessing how effectively fraud risk in UK aid is managed at the country level.
Latest news
We have published a review of how fraud risk is managed throughout the UK’s global network of overseas aid delivery. We expect the government’s response in May 2024.
Summary
Fraud is an often hidden crime, which can lead not only to financial loss but can also undermine good governance and harm people, industries, public bodies, services and the environment.
While the UK government doesn’t publish the amount of fraud detected in official development assistance (ODA), the Public Sector Fraud Authority estimates a loss of between 0.5% and 5% of all government spending to fraud and error. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) detected an overall fraud loss rate of 0.02% in 2020-21, in contrast to the 0.06% detected by the Department for International Development (DFID) in 2016.
This rapid review builds on our previous reviews and follow-ups on the issue of tackling fraud and assess how well this risk is managed and mitigated, in practice, in country-specific ODA programmes since the formation of FCDO in September 2020.