KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs has launched a central digital platform designed to improve coordination among charitable organizations and ensure the fair and efficient distribution of aid. This initiative is part of the ministry’s broader efforts to modernize charitable work and digitize related processes.

In a statement published by KUNA on Sunday, the ministry said a new “central aid program” aims to establish a central database that consolidates all applicants for various types of assistance. This will simplify the process of identifying deserving cases while minimizing the risk of duplicate aid distributions.

Efforts to organize sector

The ministry has recently launched efforts to better organize the charitable sector. Last November, Minister of Social Affairs Dr Amthal Al-Huwailah issued several ministerial decisions to dissolve 15 charities following inspection visits to assess the adherence of charities to the regulations governing charitable work and to determine their effectiveness in delivering community services. The investigations revealed that some of the foundations had not been actively engaged in any real activities for years. Additionally, their bank accounts had been closed for an extended period, and they had failed to submit required budgets or financial reports.

In September, the ministry temporarily suspended the financial accounts of five organizations due to their failure to submit the necessary reports. It stressed that any charity that fails to submit reports on time will face a temporary suspension of its financial accounts until the required documentation is provided. This measure is aimed at ensuring transparency, in line with ministerial resolutions.

How the platform will work

The platform’s main advantage, said the ministry, is that it will streamline coordination between charitable organizations and foundations, enhancing transparency in the aid request process and preventing duplicate distributions.

The program is integrated with the Mobile ID application, which includes the digital version of people’s civil ID. Charities will be able to access preliminary information about beneficiaries, such as the type of assistance requested and the number of household members that need assistance. Although the platform will carry sensitive information about a beneficiary, such as their civil ID number and address, the ministry assures that personal data will be protected until it’s needed by a charity after it begins processing a request.

The platform will alert both charity associations and the ministry if requests remain open for more than two weeks without a response. This will facilitate the redirection of requests to other associations to ensure timely assistance for beneficiaries. The platform will generate daily or monthly analytical reports on the types, values, and number of beneficiaries receiving assistance, thus empowering the ministry and the charities to make data-driven decisions and maximize community benefits.

The foreign ministry database

As a UN humanitarian center, Kuwait takes pride in its relief efforts, which have been a lifeline for communities in distress both locally and globally. While the Ministry of Social Affairs’ initiative to digitize charitable work in Kuwait is the first of its kind, other government agencies have implemented similar systems. For instance, the foreign ministry maintains a database to track the country’s charitable activities abroad, ensuring transparency and preventing misuse of funds in activities such as terrorism and money laundering. This database also requires foreign charitable organizations to register with Kuwaiti missions abroad before being authorized to collect donations in the country.

The big picture

The ministry said the program represents an important step towards enhancing transparency and improving charitable work mechanisms, in line with Kuwait’s developmental vision (New Kuwait 2035). It explained that the system is a chance for cooperation between charitable organizations and government institutions, offering a unified platform under one umbrella to enable charitable organizations to carry out their operations more efficiently. The ministry reaffirmed its commitment to further developing the charitable work environment, contributing to achieving sustainable development goals, and enhancing social solidarity within Kuwaiti society. — Agencies