RO 19m granted for 39 women’s associations

Muscat, March 19 -

A sum of RO 19 million has so far been given as grants to 39 women’s associations across the Sultanate, said Shaikh Mohammed bin Said al Kalbani, Minister of Social Development.

Speaking at the third annual session of the eighth term (2015-19) of Majlis Ash’shura on Monday, he said the value of each women’s headquarters was RO 500,000.

He said the associations that do not have permanent headquarters receive Royal grants to build their own headquarters. So far, 39 women’s associations have benefited from these grants.

On members’ questions about the efficiency of women’s associations and the delay in construction of branches in the wilayats, he said the ministry was keen to boost Omani women’s competence in various fields.

Shaikh Al Kalbani said that in 2016, the ministry implemented more than five programmes to build the capacities and develop the competence of boards of directors of Omani women’s associations.

All these associations receive annual support from the government. He said there was a need to expand the services of the ministry to include different sections of society.

In this regard, he said the ministry was working to integrate people with disabilities in the government and private institutions to rehabilitate them and boost their confidence.

“We are working with a group of institutions to provide on-the-job training for people with disabilities,” said the minister.

Besides, 50 scholarships are available for the disabled in different higher educational institutions.

Members of the Majlis proposed associations for teachers and retirees.

They wondered why there was no association for mosques that were affiliated to the Ministry of Social Development.

He said: “The ministry is willing to grant a permit for the construction of any mosque facing obstacles.”

He said there were many associations for NGOs. Their number had reached 162 by the end of 2017.

A number of topics were discussed during the meeting with council members inquiring about a wide range of issues including Al Wafa rehabilitation centres in their respective wilayats which, according to them, have a small space and suffer from lack of staff, resignations and staff transfer. Some members demanded the establishment of workshops for carpentry and agriculture to be attached to those centres. One members proposed a unified curriculum for the Al Wafaa centres.

Regarding the social insurance benefit, the meeting discussed the difficulty of obtaining information particularly for the elderly segment. There has been an inquiry about the entitlement to the social benefit in the case of families whose breadwinner is imprisoned.

Among the other topics discussed during the session were the ministry’s role in the employment of people with special needs in the private sector, establishing an association for the retirees, the ministry’s role in supporting the retirees whose monthly income is less than RO 200. The issue of constructing a building for the Omani Theatrical Society for which a sum of RO 250,000 has been earmarked, was also discussed.

The issue of reducing the disaster compensation by 50 per cent has been discussed with some members demanding to restore the former rate.

In his reply to the members’ inquiries, the minister admitted that the Al Wafaa Centres suffer from lack of staff adding that the ministry has provided 50 scholarships in the specialisations of physiotherapy the disabled welfare both inside and outside the Sultanate to solve the problem.