For the first time, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has published specific strategies on how it will tackle the threat of endemic corruption, fraud or misuse of public funds in the 29 priority countries it works in, including Nepal.

The strategies outline the specific actions Britain will take in Nepal to help combat corruption and help the people of Nepal to develop their economy, hold the Government to account and grow their way out of poverty.

The UK’s International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: “When corruption happens in developing countries, it is the very poorest people in our world who foot the bill. Corruption is a deadweight which is holding countries and their people back.”

Head of DFID Nepal, Dominic O’ Neill said; “This new Anti-Corruption and Counter Fraud strategy will protect our funds and support government efforts to tackle corruption further, as we scale up to £100m per year in Nepal. It will ensure that UKAid reaches the people it is intended for.’

DFID Nepal is funding the government’s major public financial management programs through the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank and promoting the use of public audits and third party monitoring in projects and programs around Nepal to help citizens hold donors, implementing partners and public bodies to account. This new strategy also means that fraud and corruption risk assessments in programs will be extended, ‘due diligence’ checks will be made on all our partners and specialized training will be provided to identify fraud and corruption more effectively.

DFID will also train local media to build a strong free press in Nepal to help identify corruption and root it out. Britain’s own aid funds are subject to strict checks to safeguard spending and prevent fraud. DFID has a dedicated Counter Fraud Unit to investigate allegations of misuse of aid money.