The Social Development Fund supports the poor

Wednesday, 05 April 2017 - 9:22 AM
Mehdi Alalak: The Social Development Fund supports the poor

Baghdad / Shukran Al-Fatlawi / Emad Al-Amara In order to support and empower poor and disadvantaged groups and communities through the program of employment and community and local development, to restore confidence between citizens and the state and to consolidate stability and strengthen social cohesion.

 With the support of the World Bank, in his strategy for the Middle East and North Africa, .

 Mehdi Al-Alaq to launch a new strategy for the Social Development Fund in Iraq. In this regard, the Dean of the Faculty of Management and Economics at Al Mustansiriya University, Department of Economics, organized yesterday the economic scientific symposium entitled "National Strategy for Poverty Alleviation in Iraq, Impact of Application and Future Trends", which was attended by Al Sabah with a number of economists and planning experts and a large number of academics.

 Chairman of the Technical Committee for Poverty Alleviation Policies The social fund for development in Iraq, which is expected to be launched during the first half of this year, is an important step in empowering the poor.

 It is also the mainstay of the new strategy, especially with the continuation of the social protection network 2015-2019. And the expansion of cash transfer programs.

 He highlighted the Fund's main aspects, namely employment, health, education, housing and social protection, pointing out to the fund's donors, consisting of the state budget, provincial development budget, revenues and investment fees, as well as the initial support of the World Bank of $ 50 million .

 In terms of operations and implementation, Alaq said, an operational guide is being prepared with the support of the World Bank focusing on project description, governance, institutional framework, management, sub-project cycle, procurement and financial management, social protection measures and the environment.

 He added that the priorities in the projects due will be given to projects serving the poorest segments of the population as well as infrastructure projects that require intensive labor and the use of local materials as much as possible, accompanied by projects that increase the capital of organizational or technical and social institutions and intermediaries and beneficiaries, Which benefit special needs groups with disabilities, children and women living in difficult circumstances, who face risks and projects that create permanent employment opportunities.

The program is prepared in partnership with World Bank experts and is based on a set of pillars, the most important of which is that the Fund will support small-scale, labor-intensive projects to build the necessary infrastructure and social and economic development.

 The institutional design of the Fund is accompanied by a mini program, expanded after the establishment of the Social Fund for Development, Identify and implement projects and supervise them.

The Director-General of the Strategy for Poverty Alleviation, Najla Ali Murad, presented the roadmap for the National Program for the project of the treatment of random housing, as it has spread widely in recent times, indicating that the statistical survey carried out by the Ministry of Planning for slums in 2013, 2.5 million people living in random housing, 8% of the total population in Iraq, while the number of gatherings or shops in which the random complexes 1552 number of random housing units amounted to (347) thousand homes, or 7% of the total housing in Iraq and pointed out that the most gatherings were in Baghdad and the cities of President Baghdad, 335, Nineveh 272, Basrah 167, Dhi Qar 132, Anbar 102 The deterioration of the social, health, security and urban situation of random cities, as well as being the focus of poverty, may produce negative social impacts.

 The symposium was enriched by ideas and proposals to promote it as it is still under study and subject to change in an attempt to benefit from the experiences of the countries that preceded Iraq in this regard and the need for concerted efforts for all concerned parties.

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