In the spirit of Ramadan

His Majesty King Abdullah has directed the concerned authorities to implement a series of initiatives to support underprivileged families, the elderly, orphans and people with disabilities as the fasting month of Ramadan is starting.

Based on the King’s directives to Royal Court officials, financial aid will help 30,000 underprivileged families around the Kingdom to secure their basic needs and improve their living conditions, especially during Ramadan, set to start Saturday or Sunday.

Ramadan is the month when Muslims get even closer to spirituality, should act with more compassion and feel with the needy and the disadvantaged.

The financial aid the King instructed to be given comes as an alternative to the charity packages that started in 2004, which used to include food support to needy households.

The money will go a long way to help these people in Ramadan, a month during which the Monarch also ordered support for the Social Development Ministry to enable it to implement several activities, including during Eid Al Fitr, targeting various segments of society that rely in their livelihood needs on government support or assistance by charities run or supervised by the ministry. The support benefits around 60,000 families around the Kingdom.

The aid will offer succour during the trying month of fasting, but eventually such aid will have to be supplanted by a country-wide development plan that creates industries and employment opportunities, and guarantees a decent living standard to all.

Yet, one should not be utopian. A perfect society does not exist, and even in the most advanced industrialised countries there are needy people.

As such, a safety net is important, and the above aid qualifies as one.

Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which is binding on Jordan, stipulates that “the states parties... recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions”. 

The help given to those in need before Ramadan is striving to ensure just that.