National Aid Fund plans to reduce poverty by 35 per cent through three-year-plan

AMMAN — The National Aid Fund (NAF) on Monday celebrated its latest achievements, which included the improvement of their communication strategy and their three-year-plan to include 85,000 new unfortunate families.

Commenting on the fund's previous media relations, NAF Director General Basma Ishakat said that the institution has somewhat been a “silent” one. “The NAF has always had a defensive kind of communication strategy, where we only engaged with the people if there was a complaint to address,” she told The Jordan Times.

She pointed out that the fund, which delivers cash transfers to almost 98,000 households, "needs to improve its communication with its beneficiaries as well as its benefactors".

“We want people to know that the NAF can offer them help and aid. We also want to attract donors and partners who can support us in the upcoming expansion of aid to 85,000 families,” Ishakat said.

The 2019-2021 plan, which will double the number of beneficiaries to reach a total of 177,000 families, is predicted to reduce poverty by 35 per cent.

The European Union, which funded the NAF in its quest for an improved communication strategy, also attended the event. 

Head of EU cooperation Corinne Andre said: “The EU believes in the NAF’s work, which works on preventing relapses into extreme poverty. We believe social protection is the key driver of sustainable development.”

In addition to improving its targeting and communication strategy, the NAF has also worked on expanding its outreach over the last four years, with the total number of beneficiaries rising from 88,879 in 2014 to 92,073 families in 2017. With the new plan, in three years, the NAF will support around double the number of families it does now.

Recent studies by the NAF have found that their aid supports around 6.5 per cent of the Jordanian population, with the NAF "targeting the poor wherever they are”.

With certain eligibility qualifications for each programme, the NAF distributes its financial aid over five programmes: One for needy families, humanitarian cases, families with a special-needs member, emergency aid and physical rehabilitation

NAF also noted that they plan to extend help to “expelled families”. “Under tribal law, if an individual commits a crime, his whole family is expelled from the town. NAF then supports the expelled family,” its brochure stated.