Planning Ministry, Tkiyet Um Ali sign agreement to combat food poverty in remote areas

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury and Director General of Takiyet Um Ali Samer Balqer on Sunday signed a financing agreement for the second phase of the Tkiyet Um Ali programme to combat food poverty in underprivileged areas, a ministry statement said.

Under the agreement, the ministry will contribute to the financing of the programme by JD525,000 “to enhance the economic and social productivity for 2017”. 

In 2016, the ministry funded the programme with JD430,000 within the areas that were previously approved by the Cabinet as “areas of special development needs that require additional government development interventions”.

Fakhoury said that the agreement comes in line with the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah to ensure a decent life for all people and improve the standard of living in all governorates. The agreement is also part of the Sustainable Development 2030, the principles of Jordan Document 2025 and other national strategies, the statement said.

The minister said that the sustainable food support programme seeks to improve the social and health status of citizens, especially children, on the medium and long term and positively reflect on their performance in the achievement of education and schools attendance.

He noted that the Planning Ministry is currently implementing the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2017/2018, in cooperation with the World Bank Group and the Department of Statistics  to evaluate the poverty situation in Jordan.

For his part, Balkar thanked the government for its continuous support, noting that the Tkiyet currently supports 28,000 families, and will reach 30,000 families before the end of this year.

He noted that the number of families that benefited from the programme in 2016 amounted to 17, 600 families.