Ministry suspends files of some charity groups

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 9: The Ministry of Social Affairs has suspended the files of some philanthropic organizations until their data is updated, and the financial and administrative reports for the first and second quarters of 2023 are submitted, reports Al-Qabas daily. According to informed sources, tightening control over fundraising organizations and clearing charity work from any suspicions have been in an ongoing bid to implement 40 recommendations to prevent the use of charity funds for financing terrorism and ensure that donations and aid go to those who deserve it.

The Ministry of Social Affairs decided to suspend the charters of some charities that it had licensed after discovering their noncompliance in updating their records and submitting their financial and administrative reports. Work is underway in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Financial Controllers Bureau and the Central Bank of Kuwait to develop the charity work system in the country.

Files will be temporarily suspended until the associations commit to submitting the required reports according to the framework overseeing the organization of charity assocations both inside and outside the country. The tightening of procedures and the application of articles of the law and regulations aims to ascertain the size of the charity projects outside the country, verify the sources for sending financial donations, and the extent of the associations’ commitment to the laws and decisions regulating charity work in the country at home and abroad, especially since Kuwait is committed to international agreements that aim to combat terrorism and its financing.

Kuwait is awaiting the evaluation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in November. Stopping the files made the noncompliant associations unable to send financial donations abroad. They must now expedite the submission of financial and administrative reports on the work related to the first and second quarters of the current year, and upload it to the automated system in order to be able to work again. The sources revealed that the ministry’s automated system is divided into several items related to charity projects, and each association is obligated to fill in the data according to its financial status, and attach the beneficiaries of foreign projects, according to a previous approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the applicable electronic platform.

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