One of the basic elements on which modern society is based represented in that integrated set of laws, regulations, mechanisms and strict measures, which aim, as a whole, to protect modern society, with its individuals and institutional structures, governmental and private, in all sectors, from all forms of corruption and its contaminations. You do not find any transaction of money, operations, and assets, fixed or movable, without it being on the lookout of a modern, effective and vigilant system, with mechanisms, procedures and measures, always facilitated, for the task of asking the question: “Where did you get this from?”, in multiple ways. Actually it is a question that must be answered with sufficient and irrefutable supportive documents and evidence to prove the legitimacy, integrity and entitlement of this money, starting from its source, with all its stations, and even the aspects of its disbursement.
These courses, which are sensitive to issues of corruption and its destructive afflictions to any society, represent one of the key pillars on which the social peace is based fenced with a general certainty that everyone stands on one ground that guarantees equal opportunities, social justice, the integrity of the cycle of movement of public and private resources, and the effectiveness, merit and impartiality of the oversight and audit structures. In addition to societal awareness, as well, of the danger of any inaction that could open gaps through which the deadly taint of corruption leaks into their present and future, and of the existential danger that this scourge could pose, if any infiltration is tolerated, on all accumulated collective gains, within the framework of the modern people state welfare, development, citizenship and justice. Therefore, we get to read some news from time to time from the countries of that world about the dismissal of this or that official, according to strict procedures due to the discovery of an incident of corruption.
On the contrary, the public order in our societies provides an environment that is friendly to all forms of corruption, which are shaded under the shadows of a public culture that is tolerant of the tricks and skills of corruption. The two factors are based on a third, the most serious of them, represented by the practices of the repressive, totalitarian, and unbridled regime, which is backward in its structures and mechanisms, and lacks the minimum level of efficiency, effectiveness, and legitimacy, which makes corruption a powerful monster armed to the teeth with all means of injustice, coercion, and empty slogans, in a way that leaves no room for any aspect of life, apart from its tentacles and pollutants.
And as a real world example of what these factors can do, collectively and individually, take the public system in Yemen which is like a sieve, full of black holes, that devour public and private resources, energies, and opportunities that constituted one of the preludes that dragged Yemen into the hell of war and collapse. Such a miserable situation like this makes it one of the most important duties of our generation to take the initiative to achieve exemplary, institutional and individual experiences that comply with the highest standards of governance, integrity and combating corruption, starting with its small individual experiences, as a necessary introduction to reform its public carriers in its broader framework.
Thus, any experience, whether individual or institutional, that performs any activity in isolation from financial and administrative procedures in accordance with modern accounting norms and principles, in all its operations, is necessarily part of the general case of corruption and perversion.
In connection with the above, it is possible to infer here a phrase that stopped me every times I read it in the introductions to the reports of the external auditors, in an introductory presentation, to state the responsibility of the external auditing entity, from which I quote the phrase: “The task of the external auditor is to verify the integrity and validity of the financial transactions and financial data from any material falsifications, whether due to fraud or miscalculation". The phrase establishes, in a direct and rigorous manner, a scale for examining the soundness and integrity of financial operations, for all institutions and entities, according to two basic determinants; The first determinant includes a wide spectrum of fraud incidents and practices, and the second one includes a number of wrong practices, which strike the validity, eligibility and integrity of financial operations, to the same extent as fraud incidents, including the lack of an accurate and transparent documentary cycle, as a revealing loophole indicating the existence of both fraud and error together.
Therefore, any experience, whether individual or institutional, that carries out any relief, development, awareness, research, human rights activity or any form of charitable and humanitarian work in isolation from financial and administrative procedures, in accordance with modern accounting norms and principles in all its operations, starting with the method of collection, passing through the method of preserving and proving revenues, and the processes related to the implementation of activities, interventions and aspects of disbursement, and ending with internal and external audits, is necessarily part of the general state of corruption and perversion regardless of the true intentions, motives and justifications for that situation.
Years ago, during internal discussions on ways to strengthen our institutional mechanisms for internal auditing, and as a director of a public sector institution, I stood in front of dozens of my male and female colleagues and said:
“If you ever see me owning a villa and a luxury car, raise your shoes in my face, because then I will be corrupt, embezzling public money that I have been entrusted with, as a director of a non-profit institution that manages public money, since the upper limit of my salary is barely enough for me to live a reasonable life, absolutely, it is not possible, under any circumstances, to make me wealthy even with the minimum amount of it".
Therefore, I periodically stop with myself a lot, to verify the indicators of that commitment, and the soundness of the steps in their clear path on the personal level, and on the institutional level, not as an option between several options, but rather as the only choice.
Moreover, it is a compliance that, for me at least, is binding and eternal, as unbound to a domain, temporal or spatial circumstance, or location as it is to myself, in which I see the avenue for our individual and collective salvation. Even more than that, I believe it is our best way to restore our consideration and redress our harm as a nation, which has suffered over the past years from its witnessed setback, a flood of crashing waves in multiple forms of abuse and crushing of the self and pride of any nation and society.
Therefore, I will always consider every wealth of any employee in a non-profit institution or any of the public service facilities, as a result of illegal richness tricks, as one of the worst forms of corruption ever given that it pollutes one of the most important sectors of public service, aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable groups. Additionally, it is an area in which everyone involved is supposed to fully comply with the principles of integrity and transparency, and have a double sensitivity to ensure full compliance with anti-corruption measures. And even beyond that, initiating the responsibility of effectively contributing to the development of accountability mechanisms that deter all forms of corruption and illicit individual and institutional wealth within the institutional structures of public interest agencies, with their mechanisms, policies, procedures, and structures. This includes, for example, the design of tools to verify the patrimony of the workers in these institutions, and on top of them the senior management board of these entities, which are commitments that together represent some of the conditions for the sustainability of any public benefit institution.
Likewise, the mandate of auditing and accountability mechanisms should not stop at direct signs of illicit wealth, as an indicator of corruption in any public benefit establishment, but rather go beyond it to monitor any symptoms indicating the existence of multiple forms of corruption and mismanagement. For example: the lack of management of financial operations in accordance with governing policies and regulations, and according to a documentary cycle subject to on-going internal audit first, and then to independent external audit, and to additional forms of assessment and auditing process and procedures. This is to periodically verify the integrity, feasibility, veracity, transparency, and absence of embezzlement and conflicts of interest as well as full compliance with the best standards and principles.
The scope of the civil society organizations mandate with their various disciplines is the actual test of the competence, integrity and merit of the new generations, who are supposed to be untainted. Where they have to execute typical experiences in its professionalism, efficiency and integrity and institutional structures that are in compliance with the principles of good governance, internal accountability, internal financial auditing, and external financial auditing, in accordance with the best standards and practices. And as important as the activities and operations of non-profit organizations, and the significance of the quality and impact of their interventions for the benefit of broad groups of people, the degree of safety, integrity, accuracy and transparency of its financial and administrative operations is of equal significance.
A parallel and simultaneous package of reforms to remedy the structural distortions in the general field of activity and operations of these institutions must be undertaken within the framework of a clear vision whose main goal is to create independent, impartial, governed, strong, effective, efficient, and specialized civil society organizations.
Based on all of the above, recalling the indicators of the work of hundreds of non-profit organizations during the past ten years, which participated in the management of huge financial funds that were granted to it in order to carry out various programs, were implemented under the management of new generation of Yemeni women and men staff as an experience that deserves attention to its details, and subjecting it to study, analysis, evaluation and showcasing. This may include the size of those resources, the quality of the activities implemented, and the impact achieved for the benefit of the target groups of its programs and operations. In addition, assessing the institutional development of the channels that received and managed these resources as public benefit entities, and verifying the status of workers, and their board of directors, their financial status, policies, regulations, structures, their documentary cycles, internal and external audits, and the strengths gained by those organizations in various aspects of their work as well as the weaknesses they suffer from, and finally their institutional and structural readiness to take over more effective roles in the near future.
With the realization of all the positive and creative roles that civil society organizations played in Yemen with their various specializations during the years of war, a parallel and simultaneous package of treatments for the structural distortions in the public sphere of the scope and operations of these entities must be undertaken within the framework of a clear vision that aim at creating independent, impartial, governed, strong, effective, efficient, and specialized civil society organizations, as a basic element, with those contents and determinants of the components of a strong, aspiring, and inspiring modern society.
