Barbara Walters chats with Forward Syria
Swaying between art and seduction
Discussing monetary policy with the man in charge
Where the earth screams in horror
02/13/2011 - Issue 48
Government issues massive handouts to fight poverty
On January 13 President Bashar al-Assad issued decree No. 9 that calls for establishing the National Fund for Social Aid to offer periodical or emergency subsidies according to authorized criteria.
The Fund, which is being offered with technical assistance from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will provide social assistance to about 420,000 poor families to the tune of about 12 billion SP ($250 million).
Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Diala Haj Aref said that the Fund will initially aid through cash payments, and later will support empowerment issues, training and rehabilitation; indicating that subsidies will be go to the most deserving. That is, those committed to the enrollment of children in education and primary healthcare “vaccination programs” and reproductive health.
“The Fund is a governmental tool targeting the families most in need through enhancing their development indicators,” the Minister said.
“The Fund grants periodical or emergency subsidies to the families most in need, to meet their basic needs. The subsidies to be given to eligible families this year are estimated at 10-12 billion SP.”
On January 25, Promotion and Communication Officer at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Afraa Sleiman said the Fund’s board of directors decided to start distributing subsidies for eligible families on February 13.
She added the eligible families were divided into four categories according to their living standard. The subsidy sum varies from one category to another; the first gets 3,500 SP monthly, the second 2,500, the third 1,000, while the fourth gets 500 SP.
The decision is apparently in contrast to the government’s long-standing policy to reverse subsidies, which have cost the government millions of dollars.
The Syrian government also issued orders to all government owned hospitals and health centers to offer all kinds of healthcare to the Syrian citizens who are members of the Fund.
Last month the Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri told Adonia television the new poverty combating measures were “completely unrelated” to events in Tunisia. Poverty afflicts 14% out of a population of 23 million, according to Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah Dardari.
