30
ALRAQABA . ISSUE 15
to hold virtual meetings between members of
the work teams, executive departments, and the
senior management.
Procedures taken at the level of training,
development, and capacity building:
A number of actions were taken by the SAI of
Qatar in this domain. Such as, suspending all
training programs that were scheduled to be held
at the headquarters of the SAI and rearranging
the training plan so that all programs would be
held virtually. The SAI has set out a remote training
plan to ensure the continuity of programs that
may be carried out virtually. Outcomes of such
programs are regularly assessed in order to make
any necessary adjustments that may contribute
to achieving efficiency and effectiveness in the
execution of the training plan.
Procedures taken at the level of the audit of
government tenders and contracts:
The SAI of Qatar has invited its representatives
to adopt the electronic approval mechanism.
Said representatives are assigned to attend the
meetings of the tender and auction committees
in which it participates. This mechanism shall
be adopted in accordance with the rules and
regulations prescribed under Circular No. (6) of
2020, issued by the Government Procurement
Regulatory Department of the Ministry of
Finance on setting temporary controls over the
tender and auction committees with respect to
obtaining approval and the adoption of the remote
conferencing mechanism. The representatives of
the SAI in different tender and auction committees
were requested to electronically submit the
meeting reports along with all documents
pertaining to the topics presented before the
committees to be examined and reviewed by
the department in an electronic format. This is in
addition to reviewing the concluded contracts that
are presented by the entities subject to pre-audit.
Procedures taken to carry out audit tasks
according to the approved work plans
and programs:
The SAI of Qatar has coordinated with the
auditees on the mechanism for carrying out the
audit tasks and providing the needed data. It has
also coordinated with other local entities to ensure
the continuity of the audit functions to the extent
appropriate with the current circumstances. Any
unnecessary work and activities that may increase
the risk of contracting the virus were postponed.
Efforts of the State Audit Bureau of Kuwait in
Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic
• On June 16, 2020, the State Audit Bureau of
Kuwait (SAB) issued Circular No. (6/2020) on
the rules and regulations pertaining to phase
(1) of the Gradual Return to Work plan. This
letter was circulated to all SAB staff before the
issuance of the ministerial circular requiring
the government entities to form a committee
for monitoring the implementation of COVID-
19-related procedures and health precautions.
SAB has also issued a guidance under the
motto of (With your help, life will return to
normal), listing the preventive measures to
mitigate the outbreak of COVID-19 in the
workplace. This guidance included key
precautions to be adopted by SAB staff
during phase one of the “Return to Work”
plan. Circular No. (6/2020) together with the
health precautions are communicated to all
employees through SAB Portal, the official
social media accounts of SAB, and via email.
SAB was also keen to raise the awareness of
its employees in this respect through audio
Article
Feature
