KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Public Authority for Youth’s programs are meant to foster the country’s biggest asset, but the country’s audit bureau says the authority is not doing enough to uphold its role. An article published by KUNA Sunday rounded up some of the programs held by the authority, such as the “Youth Creativity League” and “Imkan Electronic Platform,” which KUNA says support and encourage youth, whom Kuwait views as “the foundation of a promising future.” But the article doesn’t mention any of the authority’s violations uncovered by the Kuwait Audit Bureau in their 2022-2023 report, which prevent Kuwaiti youth from utilizing some of these services and appear to squander public money.

In a statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), spokesperson Asrar Al-Ansari said that the authority organizes programs, projects, and training courses for youth at its youth centers. Many of these youth centers are not well-maintained by the authority, with buildings, walls, and playground floors deteriorating despite active maintenance contracts, the bureau has found based on field visits to some youth centers.

The Da’iya Youth Center, for example, is “no longer usable”, the bureau says in its report. “This indicates a deficiency in the authority’s role in preparing and developing youth centers and houses to activate their designated functions,” said the report. The authority responded to the bureau’s observations with promises to “conduct regular maintenance for all its facilities in accordance with available contracts and financial allocations.” It added that “a comprehensive overhaul of its facilities” is included in its plan for the fiscal year 2023/2024.

The authority also highlights its academy for volunteer work, which aims to support youth in community engagement. The bureau has found that the authority had signed a contract estimated at more than KD 35,000 with a private company to run the academy. The bureau highlights that the authority outsourced the work, despite having a department tasked with training youth on volunteer work. In response to the bureau’s comments, the authority said its employees are only responsible for administrative tasks and not preparing or holding workshops. The bureau said authority employees should train the youth so as not to spend money that can be saved and to preserve public funds.