Agricultural Development Association (Agricultural Relief) in Palestine

- The General Administration for Monitoring Institutions and Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs, in the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB), conducted a financial, administrative and compliance audit and issued reports on 15 non-profit organizations, out of more than 4,000 non-profit organizations.

- Below we reproduce the Bureau's report on one of them, namely "جمعية التنمية الزراعية (الإغاثة الزراعية)" (Agricultural Development Association (Agricultural Relief)), which was established in 1983 with the aim of protecting and expanding the agricultural area and increasing its production, better exploiting natural resources, in addition to developing and improving the productive capacity of rural women, and protecting the environment. The total amount received from all donors, numbering 27 donors, (during 2017), amounted to $7,506,937 (seven million five hundred six thousand nine hundred thirty-seven dollars only, in 2017).

- The State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) carried out a financial audit of the Agricultural Development Association for the financial year ended 31-12-2017, and reached the following main observations:

1- The Association does not have an internal control unit to ensure the soundness of its financial and administrative procedures.!

2- The General Assembly has not changed the statutory external auditor ... for ten years ..!

3- Monthly bank reconciliations are not being carried out!

4- The opening of membership enrollment for the General Assembly has not been conducted for five years; the number of General Assembly members was limited to 59 members until the end of 2017, while the number decreased to 53 members in ناية عام 2018...!

5- The audited and approved annual financial statements of the Association for 2017 were not issued at the time specified for their issuance; they were issued on 22-10-2018, thus delayed by at least six months, contrary to Article 40 of the Association's bylaws.!

6- Monthly and periodic financial reports are not prepared!

7- The Association's Board of Directors decided to contract with the General Manager under a special contract, outside the framework of the newly adopted salary scale..!

8- The Association did not apply the salary scale correctly to employees' salaries, as increases for some salaries reached $335.!

9- Some employees were granted project allowances in addition to their base salary and their approved allowances, due to a surplus in the approved budgets for projects related to the salary item...!

· Youth Resilience Project

- An agreement was not signed with each beneficiary individually in the Youth Resilience Project specifying the total items and quantities that they would receive from the grant..!

- Through the Youth Resilience Project the Association granted some beneficiaries projects whose nature differed from the projects they had originally applied for, contrary to the applications that were reviewed and approved at the start of the project..!

- The Association did not require the supplier of livestock to bring a veterinary certificate from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Central Laboratory proving that the sheep were free of brucellosis..!

- The Association did not obtain financial guarantees from some beneficiaries of the Youth Resilience Project..!

· Ayadi Project

- Examination of the activity of supplying materials for producing dairy products, and the training activity on production, in the اياي project, showed that some beneficiaries received equipment for equipping units but did not receive the training, unlike others who received the grant.

· What was the Association's response to the Bureau's report?: The (majority of) justifications provided by the Association are unacceptable due to the absence of appropriate supporting documents.. and (some) of the observations that were proven were amended by the supporting documents...

· (And I say, commenting).. It is clear that the Bureau's report, as its observations appear above, is self-explanatory, and after we praise the work of the Bureau that watches over public funds in all their places, we can only say that cooperative and collective work carried out within non-profit associations or bodies, and despite the fact that the set goals are desirable, required and vital for all of Palestinian society, which has been under occupation for more than seven decades, the management of such associations must work in accordance with the established internal rules, regulations and bylaws, and must not deviate from or violate such foundations.. and must adhere to the grant programs from which many benefit.. Expanding membership in such associations is necessary to allow for a larger turnout than that recorded in the report..., provided that all the violations shown by the Bureau's report are corrected.. whether financial or administrative, fundamentally, and that those who violated the Association’s statute and the rules of cooperative and public work in a culpable manner are punished... from seeking integrity and transparency and discipline.

· Dated 30-11-2020