The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, under its community services, launched a unique initiative that aims to provide temporary and adequate housing for the needy families who have been ravaged by life conditions.
Titled the 'Maqam', the initiative aims to shelter and give a helping hand to those families exposed to many challenges and who no longer have the ability to find adequate housing due to the circumstances in life which happened without their intention.
The initiative was launched under the auspices of Her Excellency Dr Laila bint Ahmed al Najar, Minister of Social Development, and Dr Mohammed bin Said al Maamari, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs.
"Ensuring a decent life for the citizen is a national mission and a duty that all members of the society can contribute to and is one of the most important priorities and necessary needs that contributes to preserving human dignity, security and stability in the community; hence the initiative trying to find suitable housing for poor families," said Ali al Ghafri from the Awqaf.
The Maqam endowment initiative was established by a decision of the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. Under this, priority will be given to those who do not have suitable accommodation and are waiting for housing assistance from the government or any of the associations in this field.
"One of the main objectives of the Maqam initiative is to seek to achieve the principle of cooperation in righteousness and piety, and to encourage the members of the society to be generous and to help others who deserve to be helped," said Ali al Ghafri from the Awqaf.
Maqam also aims at enhancing societal awareness of the need for cooperation, and to help the needy in line with the Oman Vision 2040 , which seeks to improve the standard of living and welfare and achieve social justice.
Maqam initiative will include a community partnership and solidarity between real estate owners with generous good Samaritans of the society who allocate part of their housing facilities as a temporary shelter to the deserving members of the Maqam initiative as well as members who need community support to provide them with a decent life like everyone else.
The members of the Maqam initiative were formed through the direct nomination of a group of brothers and sisters as members, executives and volunteers from different service bodies of Maqam who have sufficient experience in enriching lives around the globe.
Families will be selected based on the recommendations from the authorities, government bodies, associations and charitable groups and citizens with urgent need registered with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning or with the government associations are given priority.
The number of family members is taken into account in allotting temporary shelters. The social and economic situation of the family will be assessed before allotting the dwelling place to them and preference is also given to those families which have people with special needs within the family.
Also, any families of prisoners who have no means to live, and families of drug addicts who are unable to provide for their families' necessities are considerably looked into. The spokesperson further said that those deserving families can get in touch with the Awqaf officials on www.mara.gov.om.
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