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U.S. Tracks Afghan Cash Flow Using Google Earth and GPS

by Amar Toor on February 27, 2010 at 08:00 AM

As the war in Afghanistan continues to lurch forward, U.S. and Western coalition forces are increasingly implementing initiatives to help impoverished Afghans pick themselves up and get on the road to economic recovery. Among these programs is "cash-for-work," a set of projects run by NATO and U.S. development organizations, whereby organizations give money to local communities for creating employment opportunities and funding reconstruction. The biggest problem with cash-for-work, though, is accountability and making sure that the money handed out is going toward its intended purpose. Keeping constant tabs on cash flows is always difficult, and especially in a country as factious and war-torn as Afghanistan. But, John Stephens of U.S. charity Mercy Corps recently came up with a nifty solution based on GPS technology and Google Earth.

Because many regions in Afghanistan are still too dangerous for foreigners to enter, Stephens and his team dispatch Afghan staff members, equipped with GPS cameras, in order to provide photographic evidence of the commissioned projects' being undertaken. Once the photos are taken, the data is uploaded to a Google Earth-like program so that Mercy Corps can keep track of the projects, and pay wages accordingly. As Stephens tells Wired, these kinds of watertight accountability measures are paramount in Afghanistan, since "the moment you turn away for a second, that's when corruption can blossom... especially with cash-for-work, because there's so much money involved."

Stephens also mentions that similar programs are being considered in places like Somalia, Congo, and tribal regions of Pakistan. But the most urgent need, it seems, remains in Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, Western officials and Afghan policymakers have become ever more concerned about a "blizzard" of aid donations being siphoned from allocated recipients and into corrupt third parties. By taking this grassroots-like GPS approach to financial oversight, though, Stephens and Mercy Corps hope, quite simply, to make sure that the money gets to "those communities that need it the most," [From: Wired]

Tags: afghanistan, afghanistan war, AfghanistanWar, cash, development, google, google earth, GoogleEarth

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