The Ministry of Social Affairs has included the ‘Ensuring Equity of Social Safety Nets’ initiative within the government’s action program — the first economic and financial reform program — the second pillar of labor market development, in cooperation with the World Bank, and coordination and partnership with the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, the Ministry of Finance, in addition to many agencies concerned with distributing subsidies in the country.
Reliable sources told the daily, that the financial cost of the initiative is about 860,000 dinars, which is the value of the advisory study provided by the World Bank, in addition to the cost of designing and implementing an electronic platform under the name “Aman”, whose implementation will be entrusted to a specialized company, reports Al-Jarida daily.
The sources explained that the Ministry of Social Affairs is awaiting the legal opinion of the Fatwa and Legislation Department on the initiative, and then the contract will be signed between the bank and the Ministry of Finance.
The sources indicated that the most important and prominent objectives of the initiative are monitoring and studying the current social welfare network, and preparing a model that guarantees a fair distribution of wealth between citizens and the most needy people, depending on the level of intensity of reforms that affect the wage bill and government subsidies, as well as rebalancing the social protection system and moving to a social safety net and the formation of a comprehensive and sustainable care system.
The sources indicated there is a package of executive measures for the initiative project, including reviewing the current structure of the social safety net, preparing a social and economic study, and evaluating the impact on the government’s financial affairs independently, and on the population to ensure fairness and transparency.
The sources added that “among the executive measures is also the design of the wealth distribution scheme, including eligibility criteria, policies and processes for reaching those in need, as well as monitoring the implementation of new compensation plans to measure their impact on the safety net.
The sources pointed out that the team met with members of the World Bank to coordinate on what can be implemented until the contract is officially signed, and it was also provided with all studies to be analyzed and to design the appropriate network for Kuwait.