SAI Kyrgyzstan conducted an audit of budget execution at the State Agency for Physical Culture and Sports for 2024. The audit identified financial violations, primarily dealing with wage payments not stipulated for by the legislation, as well as excessive travel expenses. Procedural violations were also identified, including non-compliance with legal requirements in payroll calculation, accounting, and public procurement. Furthermore, instances of unrecorded assets, incomplete reporting of accounts receivable and payable, and exceeding established limits on utility costs were identified. Following the audit, the SAI recommended that the Agency strengthen financial discipline, eliminate the identified violations, and improve the efficiency of budgetary funds.
Published
25 May 2026
SAI Canada conducted an audit of the Yukon’s Department of Health and Social Services. The audit focused on the effectiveness of measures to investigate cases of child abuse and to organize temporary placement of children. Additionally, the auditors evaluated the timeliness, effectiveness, and inclusivity of services provided to protect the safety and well-being of at-risk children and young adults. The audit found serious gaps across a range of child protection services, ranging from responding to reports of suspected harm to completing investigations and following up with children in care and young adults receiving support services. The auditors noted that: • the Department failed to assess the need for protective intervention within the mandated 24-hour window in 37% of child harm allegations, • in cases when assessments identified the need for further investigation, the Department did not complete these investigations within the required 30 days in 41% of the cases examined, • when there were concerns about a child’s safety in their home setting, the Department did not maintain the required monthly face-to-face contact with the child and their family in 55% of the cases in audited sample, • annual reviews of foster homes were not completed by the Department to verify that the homes remained safe for children in 58% of cases in the sample. SAI found a number of issues that contributed to the gaps in timely assessments, interventions, and monitoring. These included poor management of staffing, insufficient tracking of mandatory safety and cultural training, a lack of reporting on compliance with child welfare standards, and the department’s failure to use functions of its case management system; for example, actioning automated reminders and reporting on outcomes for children and families. In addition, while group homes are meant for children aged 12 and older, SAI found that about a third of children were under 6 years of age. These factors impacted the ability of staff to provide supervision tailored to the needs of the children and increased safety risks for all children. According to the auditors, the Department did minimal tracking of the human and financial resources required to deliver child protection services, resulting in poor governance oversight, and a lack of informed decision making capacity. SAI mentioned that only 62% of social worker and supervisor positions were staffed. Despite the staffing shortages, payroll costs increased, with overtime and casual staff spending rising by more than 75%. Many group home staff did not have complete or up-to-date training in Indigenous awareness, or in health and safety topics such as non-violent crisis intervention. According to SAI, the existing system for supporting children and families is not effective in protecting the most vulnerable groups. SAI recommended that the Department address the identified violations, conduct a comprehensive review of all foster families and extended care organizations, and establish collaboration with Indigenous representatives to determine the timeline for developing and regularly updating cultural programs for each Indigenous child under the Department's care.
Published
25 May 2026
SAI Albania published its Statistical Bulletin for 2025. During this period, 190 audits were carried out, covering 271 public entities at various levels of government, including central ministries and agencies, local governments, state-owned companies (where the state owns more than 50% of the shares), and projects funded by international aid. As a result of these audits, the auditors issued 4,994 recommendations to eliminate the negative factors affecting the state budget. The main areas of focus are improving the regulatory framework, enhancing organizational measures, and eliminating negative financial consequences. SAI continues to monitor the implementation of recommendations in order to enhance their effectiveness and improve the performance of the inspected institutions.
Published
25 May 2026
SAI Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted an audit of the ethical codes implementation in the ministries and agencies. The audit revealed that most government institutions had not adopted codes governing the behavior of officials in a timely manner and had not developed ethical codes for individuals being appointed to positions. The auditors noted that although most agencies had conducted ethics training, a significant number of employees had not participated in such training over the past three years. The auditors also found a lack of monitoring of the ethical standards application. SAI recommended that ministries and agencies ensure the availability of ethical codes, develop effective mechanisms for their implementation, keep records of violations, and regularly update the codified documents. In addition, auditors noted the need to organize regular training for employees on ethical issues and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the needs for improving the system of public ethical regulation.
Published
25 May 2026
In 2025, out of 203.1 million households in the EU, only 47.4 million, or 23.4%, included children. Most of these were couples with children (14.7%), other types of households with children (5.6%) and single adults with children (3.0%). The remaining 76.6% of households without children comprised of single adults (37.5% of all households), couples (24.1%) and other households (15.1%). In 2025, 50.2% of EU households with children had 1 child, 37.6% had 2 children, and 12.2% had 3 children or more. Households with 1 child were particularly common in Portugal (61.8% of all households with children), Bulgaria (60.4%) and Malta (59.5%). In 14 of the 27 EU countries, most households with children had 2 or more children. This share was the highest in Sweden, with 57.8% of such households, the Netherlands (57.6%) and Ireland (56.7%). Between 2016 and 2025, the number of single adult households without children rose by 19.2% (from 63.9 million to 76.1 million) and the number of households composed of couples without children increased by 3.3% (47.3 million to 48.9 million). In contrast, the number of households with couples and children dropped by 6.3% (31.9 million to 29.9 million), and other types of households with children decreased by 3.5% (11.8 million to 11.4 million).
Published
22 May 2026
Обновлен
25.05.2026
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