The Assembly of People's Representatives (ARP), passed the budget of the Social Affairs Ministry for the 2024 financial year, with 132 votes for, 4 votes against and 4 abstentions.
Answering questions from MPs, Social Affairs Minister, Malek Ezzahi, underlined that 10,000 additional people will benefit from permanent subsidies as part of the "Social Amen" programme, adding that that nearly 1 million needy and low-income families are benefitting from this programme.
The minister reiterated that his department pays particular attention to poor and low-income families, indicating that a 30-dinar monthly allowance is granted to each child from a poor family and a 120-dinar monthly grant is given to each student, in addition to a 100-dinar allowance offered to each student at the start of the school year.
The minister underscored that the solution does not lie in increasing the number of beneficiaries of permanent allowances but rather help young people from needy and low-income families launch their own projects.
The ministry, he said, has funded 586 projects of poor young people, whose success rate reached more than 80% in 2022. It also funded 350 projects with a success rate of over 90% in 2023, emphasizing that the financing ceiling is equal to or greater than 50,000 dinars for each project.
Ezzahi added that the ministry is committed to financing 1,000 projects per year for the benefit of young people from needy and low-income families as of 2024, explaining that all these funds are provided in the form of grants rather loans.
The minister called on young people from needy and low-income families who have not been able to find a job in the public service to launch their own projects by taking advantage of the various economic empowerment programmes made available by the various departments.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse