5 of the worst USAID scandals in history

The agency's low points, from working with child sex abusers to enabling drug trafficking - Matthew Petti 

...of course, a program can be relatively small and still be wasteful—and the damage they do can often exceed the price tag. 

There's a long history of USAID projects supporting bad actors, fostering anti-American resentment, building an unhealthy dependence on foreign money, and doing more harm than good. 

Here are some of the most infamous examples:

• Funding drug production in Afghanistan ($1.46 billion)

Drugs were the elephant in the room during the failed U.S. war in Afghanistan. Because opium was such a large part of the poor and war-torn country's economy, the fighting between the Taliban and the U.S.-backed Afghan republic often looked more like a turf war between rival narco gangs, with the U.S. military protecting some opium fields and bombing others. USAID tried to change this state of affairs, spending $1.46 billion on "alternative development programs" from 2002 to 2017. 

• Child sex abuse scandals in Africa ($29.6 million)

A USAID-funded charity in Kenya allegedly covered up rampant sex abuse of children, and USAID funded a second charity in the Central African Republic a month after a major sex abuse scandal broke, Bloomberg reported last year. The Children of God Relief Institute, which ran an orphanage for Kenyan children affected by AIDS and similar projects, received high praise from the U.S. government. From 2013 onward, USAID gave the institute $29.3 million...

• A medical supply boondoggle ($9.5 billion)...