Why does a surgical facemask cost the Kyrgyz government $4.63, while it costs the United Nations $0.87? What about an HIV test for which the government has paid $547, but costs the UN only $20?
A decade of Western support to make Central Asia’s frontiers more secure and open for trade has achieved little because of widespread corruption and a lack of political will, a new report says. Instead, the aid seems to have whet local regimes’ appetites for handouts, as they try to leverage their proximity to Afghanistan.
