PM visits Hashemite Charity warehouses for first-hand look at food parcel distribution

AMMAN — Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Omar Razzaz on Tuesday visited the warehouses of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation in Amman to get a first-hand look at the efforts of the Social Protection Team to support underprivileged families and daily wage labourers affected by the repercussions of COVID-19.

Razzaz was accompanied by the organisation’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees HRH Prince Rashid, Minister of Social Development Basma Ishaqat and the organisation’s Secretary General Ayman Mefleh during his tour of the ready-made food parcels warehouse.

Razzaz also checked on the readiness of the trucks to load and deliver the food parcels, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The prime minister listened to a briefing from Mefleh on the mechanism for receiving cash and in-kind donations from the public and private sectors and civil society organisations.

The secretary general also briefed him on how the food parcels and basic materials for citizens are prepared, stressing the need to fully ensure the sterilisation of these materials, for the safety and health of the families receiving the parcels.

Razzaz said, during a press statement following the tour, that the purpose of this visit was to see the efforts of the integrated social protection team that consists of the Ministry of Social Development, the National Aid Fund, the Zakat Fund, the Social Security Corporation, the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation and Tkiyet Um Ali.

He highlighted the role of the organisation in receiving in-kind assistance, food and medicine, in addition to the role of Tkiyet Um Ali in distributing the aid, expressing appreciation for the roles of the private sector, civil society organisations, the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, security entities and administrative authorities in the governorates.

The prime minister pointed out that citizens can make donations via several platforms, such as the platform of the Crown Prince Foundation initiative "Naua" and Tkiyet Um Ali’s platform, stressing that all efforts and all donations go to the Ministry of Social Development’s Khair account.

He stressed the importance of donations from individuals and institutions to bridge the shortage of parcels, calling on the private sector, civil society organisations and individuals to cooperate through the existing platforms in order to work in an integrated manner.

He also stressed the need for aid to be channeled through a unified list at the Ministry of Social Development that contains the names of those in need, the underprivileged and at-risk families.

Razzaz praised the efforts of the social protection team, stressing that this mechanism of work leads to greater coordination to ensure that there are no marginalised or needy families or areas that have not been reached.

The premier concluded by saying: “We commend the efforts of everyone and, God willing, through a joint effort, we can reach every citizen in need wherever they are across the Kingdom."

In a press statement, Minister of Social Development Basma Ishaqat said that the prime minister formed teams to confront the coronavirus crisis, noting that the social protection team was assigned tasks to protect vulnerable groups in society that were affected by the spread of the virus.

She explained that the team worked over the past days to organise a work mechanism by distributing roles and tasks to team members, each according to their specialisations.

For his part, Mefleh noted that the organisation’s role is to receive food and in-kind assistance, ensure its consumability, arrangement and packaging and then distribute it to beneficiaries in the governorates through the Unified National Registry at the Ministry of Social Development.

He added that the organisation makes sure of the quality of the materials and lists of beneficiaries, then distributes them with the help of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army and security entities.

The "Naua" platform secures cash donations through which the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation purchases food parcels from local sources with the added aim of stimulating the local market, he noted.

The secretary-general stressed that the organisation has been able to distribute more than 18,000 food parcels in all governorates of the Kingdom, including Irbid Governorate, through coordination with the Armed Forces.

He pointed out that 3,000 food parcels are being distributed to the governorates and charity societies, which then pass them on to beneficiaries, making reference to 73 societies which partner with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation, the Jordan Red Crescent Society and Tkiyet Um Ali.

The Social Protection Team has thus far handed out cash aid to 151,127 underprivileged families, and distributed 144,970 food parcels, Petra reported.