Management of Aid in Some Palestinian Governorates for 2020 and 2021

Episode No. (11)

●      Not long ago.. in the year of the Coronavirus pandemic 2020, and the subsequent year of emergency, the governorates of the homeland received....cash and in-kind domestic and foreign aid, to distribute to citizens..from emergency, solidarity and mutual assistance funds and other funds established to receive some of these aids..and the management of these aids was evaluated, and they were disbursed to beneficiaries..in some of these governorates such as: Tulkarm Governorate, Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, Jericho and the Jordan Valley Governorate, Nablus Governorate, and Bethlehem Governorate in the years 2020 and 2021. It became apparent that there were violations, deviations, breaches, negligence, dereliction, and lack of transparency...that appeared in a report conducted by the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB), and appeared in its annual report for 2022.!

●      From our review of the report of the Public Oversight Department on governance (civil and security) included in the aforementioned Bureau’s annual report, we found substantial common observations, almost identical copies, among the governorates mentioned above, in the method of managing the financial and in-kind assistance specific to each governorate....during the coronavirus pandemic, Ramadan, and the state of emergency..for the years 2020 and 2021..Among these substantive observations cited by the Bureau’s report are the following:

●      Assistance is disbursed without the approval of the Authorized Signatory for expenditure at the Ministry of Social Development..

●      There is no mechanism to distribute cash assistance to the needy; rather it is done randomly and without study, and no social investigation was conducted to verify the beneficiaries’ need and entitlement to assistance, as the committee did not prepare and compile a database of needy families at the governorate level (Nablus Governorate, 2021).

●     Some assistance was disbursed directly, based on an approval/signature from the Governor, to the financial department for disbursement..and it is not presented to the Social Development Department in the governorate..to give an opinion; for example: in Bethlehem Governorate..., an amount of 82,672 shekels was disbursed as cash assistance, of which 42,672 shekels were disbursed by decision of the Governor, without consulting the assistance administration in the governorate, and cash assistance was disbursed to relatives of employees of the first degree in the governorate without confirmation of need for the disbursement of the assistance.!

●      There is no clear, approved mechanism for disbursing bonuses, as amounts are disbursed based on a list approved by the Governor, which negatively affects overall performance in the governorate (Tulkarm Governorate, Jericho and the Jordan Valley Governorate for 2021, Nablus Governorate).

●      Expenses unrelated to the state of emergency and the Coronavirus pandemic were charged to the emergency fund.!

●      There is no reasonable assurance about the correctness and integrity of the procedures for distributing all assistance: (fuel coupons, olive oil, and food parcels).

●      Some assistance was disbursed in cash to relatives of some employees, without sufficient supporting documentation proving their entitlement to the disbursement! In addition, humanitarian assistance was repeatedly disbursed to the same people..!

●      Weak effectiveness of the internal control unit in the governorate since 2018, where there is no staff member assigned to work in this unit..!(Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate 2020, Jericho and the Jordan Valley Governorate for 2021, Nablus Governorate 2021)..

●      There is no register of receipt and disbursement vouchers used in collecting and disbursing donations, and bank reconciliations are not prepared for the bank accounts of the committee (distribution of assistance).

●      The Bureau reserves judgment on the in-kind aid data for 2020, and there is no reasonable assurance regarding the correctness and veracity of the disbursement of those aids, and the supporting evidence of their receipt and disbursement..! The Bureau also cannot verify the correctness of the parcel distribution process, and that the persons benefiting from them are those in need (Nablus Governorate).

●     Military personnel were seconded from the security apparatuses to work in the governorate for a period exceeding 3 years (Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, Bethlehem Governorate 2021).

●      Some governorates did not follow up and verify actual disbursement to ensure that assistance reached its rightful recipients, and detailed listings of those aids were not obtained (Jericho and the Jordan Valley Governorate for 2021).

●      As for the funds of the Social Solidarity Fund, there is no assurance about the integrity of the mechanism by which the donations were collected, as they were collected through the Chamber of Commerce, and these funds remained in the bank account and were not used for the purpose for which they were collected, namely to provide assistance to those in need and those affected by the pandemic (Jericho and the Jordan Valley Governorate for 2021).

●      Weak reliability of the records used by the governorate regarding recording movements of donations and in-kind assistance to and from the governorate’s warehouses..as the dates of inbound and outbound movements are not recorded (Nablus Governorate).

●      Documentary supporting evidence is insufficient for disbursement operations of assistance, as reports proving beneficiaries’ need for these aids, such as medical reports and proof of unemployment, dependency and disability, were not obtained..! Also, there is no register of receipt and disbursement vouchers used in collecting and disbursing donations (Nablus Governorate).

●      Cash assistance was disbursed to citizens without supporting evidence proving their need (Nablus Governorate).

●      High expenditure on the postal, telegraph, and telephone item, in the amount of 122,075 shekels, i.e., 12% of the governorate’s operating expenses, and by examining the list of the governorate’s telephone numbers, it was found that there are numbers enabled for international calls and mobile networks, in addition to the numbers designated for the governorate office, which led to additional expenses being charged to the governorate (Bethlehem Governorate 2021).

●      Payment of $1,188,000 in rent as compensation for renting the governorate building for the period 2004–2022, whereas in light of the existence of government land that could be utilized, these amounts could be used to build the governorate’s headquarters and reduce government expenditures (Bethlehem Governorate 2021)!

●      Distribution of 35 in-kind parcels to employees of grade Head of Section and below.

●      There is no clear mechanism for disbursing bonuses, as amounts are disbursed based on an approved list by the Governor, and bonuses are disbursed to non-employees (military personnel seconded from the security apparatuses) to the governorate without any disbursement reference!!! (Bethlehem Governorate 2021).

●      An amount of 1,005 shekels was disbursed as fuel allowance for private vehicles to some employees pursuant to the Governor’s and the financial controller’s approval for disbursement (Bethlehem Governorate 2021).

●      Expenses from foreign donations: The donation committee purchased some medical and non-medical devices and equipment for large sums of money, where there are no confirmations or supporting evidence related to the receipt of these donations by the beneficiary entities, and large sums of money or in-kind purchases were made for purposes other than those for which the fund was established..!

●      An unannounced attendance check of governorate employees was conducted to verify the correctness of employees’ presence at their workplaces, and it was found that the number of late employees was 27 out of 50 employees (Bethlehem Governorate 2021)...!