The United States is pushing the multilateral development banks (MDBs) to further strengthen their frameworks for measuring the results of projects they fund so that outcomes can be monitored and assessed, says the Treasury Department's top official for international affairs.

Testifying July 21 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Under Secretary John Taylor said establishing strong results-based development funding programs will "sharply reduce the likelihood that monies will be diverted for corrupt or fraudulent purposes."

"What gets measured gets done," he said.

Taylor said the United States is working to fight corruption in the use of MDB funds at the institutional, project and country levels. The five MDBs the United States is working to reform are the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Taylor said in recent years the banks have all begun to adopt mechanisms to measure and report the results of their projects. In addition, Treasury reviews all loans, grants and proposals to ensure they include safeguards and measurable results, he said.

An example of the banks' structural changes, Taylor said, is the World Bank's creation of a Department of Institutional Integrity. The department's investigations have so far led to administrative sanctions on approximately 180 companies and individuals whose names are posted on the bank's Web site, he said.

Taylor said a central part of Treasury's efforts to fight corruption is the implementation of a provision of a January law that aims to increase transparency and accountability at the MDBs.

Since the law was signed, each bank has proposed or adopted additional transparency policies, the secretary said. Similarly, Treasury now posts a record of its votes on MDB projects on the department's Web site, he said.

To build on those achievements, the MDBs need to improve staff education, incentives and processes for anti-corruption work, including strengthening whistleblower protections, Taylor said