KUWAIT CITY, Jan 11 Kuwait’s strategy to promote integrity and combat corruption has achieved 89% of its goals, the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) announced, highlighting significant progress across all sectors of society.

In a statement, Nazaha said 2025 marked a year of notable achievements that reinforced Kuwait’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and fostering an institutional culture of integrity across state institutions. The authority credited its success to preventive and legislative measures, training programs, and local and international conferences, guided by a strategic roadmap and collaboration between public and private sectors and civil society.

Nazaha’s efforts were recognized with the Arab Government Excellence Award 2025 in the category of “Best Arab Initiative for Developing Government Work” for the “Kuwait Strategy for Enhancing Integrity and Combating Corruption” project, organized by the League of Arab States.

The authority said the strategy, covering 2019-2025, targeted all components of society, including individuals, the public and private sectors, and specialized bodies. It cited improvements in public service delivery and international indicators as evidence of the strategy’s impact. Operational indicators were monitored and evaluated to assess effectiveness throughout the implementation period.

Nazaha revealed that it received 49,564 financial disclosure statements from 21,072 individuals, covering first submissions, updates, and final statements. The authority linked data with 13 government entities to verify accuracy. During 2025, 1,035 individuals were referred to the Public Prosecution for late or incomplete submissions, complaints, or reports of corruption incidents.

The new Nazaha Law No. 69 of 2025 strengthened the authority’s independence and supervisory role, expanding categories covered by the law and allowing appeals to courts against Public Prosecution decisions to close reports. The law also allows settlements for delayed financial statements, balancing deterrence and flexibility.

Kuwait improved its global ranking, securing 36th place out of 69 countries in the 2025 Global Competitiveness Index by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), with its score rising to 68.69/100.

Nazaha, in cooperation with the Civil Service Commission, expanded the “Performance” project to strengthen codes of conduct in government entities. Participating entities rose from 14 to 27, and beneficiaries increased from 26,000 in 2024 to 66,000 in 2025.

In schools, the “Bankee” program reached over 100 public and private schools, engaging more than 10,000 teachers and benefiting 47,740 students. Implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the National Bank of Kuwait, the initiative aims to enhance financial literacy and ethical values among students through interactive programs, workshops, and awareness campaigns.

Nazaha also issued specialized manuals on internal reporting, annual report preparation, and corruption risk management, strengthening preventive measures and promoting integrity across institutions.

The authority stressed that its comprehensive approach, targeting all segments of society, reflects one of Kuwait’s most successful experiences in public-private cooperation and anti-corruption efforts.