ShareKUWAIT: Kuwait’s anti-corruption authority and other international experts have called on government agencies to allocate “sufficient resources” to implement policies that foster an environment conducive to anti-corruption efforts.
The recommendations were released following a forum organized by the authority, also known as Nazaha, which featured participation from international organizations, government agencies, the private sector, and civil society, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the State Audit Bureau, the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). The forum focused on exploring corruption measurement methodologies and best practices in assessing corruption risks.
The recommendations aim to ensure Kuwait’s efforts in fighting institutional corruption are successful.
Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim, Chairman of Kuwait’s Anti-Corruption Authority, stressed that combating corruption goes beyond addressing corrupt actions and prosecuting offenders. “Addressing the root causes of corruption is just as important, if not more so, than other methods in terms of their impact,” he told participants at the conference.
A key factor in the success of anti-corruption efforts is the state’s ability to monitor and assess corruption risks, allowing government agencies to manage these risks effectively, he added.
This requires government agencies to publish annual reports and provide updated and translated information for both local and international corruption indicators, the forum recommended. Raising awareness within the public sector of the importance of managing corruption risks is also crucial. Abarar Al-Hammad, an official with Nazaha, said the authority plans to launch a “corruption risk management guide” to assist institutions in proactively identifying, preventing, and mitigating risks before they manifest.
The forum also recommended promoting digital transformation and ensuring that data and information are stored electronically across government agencies. This would simplify data extraction and review, improve auditing and detection of any manipulation or corruption, and facilitate automatic linking of government data, thereby reducing the risks of data tampering. — KUNA
