Amman: Egyptian-Iraqi delegations on Sunday and Monday were briefed on the National Aid Fund experience in designing and implementing social protection programs.
Minister of Social Development, Wafaa Bani Mustafa, said that the goal of exchanging visits and experiences is to empower poor and vulnerable families and prioritize them in Arab governments agendas, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic and the impacts of political conflicts, noting that the Ministry of Social Development and the National Aid Fund are interested in the Egyptian and Iraqi experiences in tis field.
For her part, Director General of the National Aid Fund, Khitam Shneikat, highlighted the Fund’s efforts to reach an advanced level in providing social protection services according to the best international standards.
She undderlined the importance of these visits in exchanging experiences and benefiting from mutual experiences in addressing poverty and unemployment in an effort to reduce poverty rates, especially in light of the similar geographic and economic difficulties Arab countries face.
For his part, head of the Egyptian delegation, advisor to the Minister of Social Solidarity for support social safety nets programs and executive director of the Solidarity and Dignity Program, Raafat Shafiq, lauded Jordan’s efforts to alleviate the suffering of poor families, pointing out that the National Aid Fund efforts are considered a model to follow in reaching common policies between Arab countries in combating poverty and unemployment.
In turn, head of the Iraqi delegation, Assistant Director General of Social Protection at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Abdul Rahman Owayid Al-Mansouri, said that the Aid Fund programs enjoy an advanced level in contributing to reducing poverty rates and providing support and assistance according to the best tools used at the regional level.
For her part, Jordan Resident Representative of the World Bank Group, Holly Benner, said that Jordan has reformed and expanded the social protection system, which provides support for poor families and vulnerable workers, by adopting innovative and automated mechanisms and systems, which enabled it to overcome many challenges and reach the target groups – a challenge that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic – which turned the Jordanian social protection system into a role model in the region, through the cash support program, which includes periodic cash transfers, in addition to the temporary response to the pandemic, as it is supported by the World Bank emergency cash transfer project, which reaches 120,000 families through periodic cash support, in addition to nearly 230,000 families who benefited from the cash support provided in response to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
The World Food Program (WFP) Representative and Country Director in Jordan, Alberto Correia Mendes, lauded the effective social protection services of the National Aid Fund, stressing the WFP commitment to strengthening systems and supporting national actors seeking to eradicate poverty.
“The World Food Program will continue its support to the National Strategy for Social Protection in Jordan by providing technical assistance to the National Aid Fund in digitizing systems and strengthening institutional capacities in close collaboration with the World Bank and UNICEF,” Mendes added.
Source: Jordan News Agency