Social Assistance
The social assistance includes the financial aid provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development (MLSD) since 1972 to a selected range of people having difficulties in their livelihood, proved through social research. This includes widows, divorced, abandoned children, elderly, a family of an imprisoned person, incapacitated or disabled individuals, and orphans.
The Kingdom of Bahrain issued Law No. (18) of 2006 on social security that resulted in the establishment of a special fund for social security. Work is being done to invest the proceeds of the social security fund in constructing new commercial complexes that allocate their profits to the Social Security Fund to support needy families. The purpose is to raise the standard of living of citizens and to meet the needs of people in each category by contributing appropriate income, narrowing the differences between the groups of society and achieves social justice desired among all levels of society.
National Plan for the Development of society
The national plan for the development of society aims to raise the standard of living of families, and to enhance self-reliance and financial independence. The Ministry of Labour and Social Development has developed a number of projects and programmes to support the aim of the national plan. MLSD has previously used the World Bank's experiences in developing and structuring a social safety net, developing social assistance systems and implementing a programme based on two important elements: The first aims to develop standards that define the minimum living requirements in the Kingdom of Bahrain, based on the results of the survey carried out by the Information & eGovernment Authority , which was the cornerstone for the development of government policies towards targeting and developing the most vulnerable groups at the time. The second aims to consider ways to promote income-generating activities for families and to enhance living conditions in the areas where these families live.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Development has taken a number of steps to implement the national plan for developing needy families, including:
The National Project for the Development and Support of Productive Families: aims to transform needy families into productive families by employing and developing their talents as required, which provides these families with opportunities to increase their sources of income in addition to encouraging this group to produce in centers affiliated to the Ministry.
Family Bank: The Family Bank aims to provide micro-loans for low-income groups without bank guarantees, with the aim of helping them to establish income-generating projects in addition to specific financing services. The project has achieved remarkable successes in serving a large segment of needy families by lending them small sums to start implementing their projects. The Family Bank was the first specialized Islamic bank to provide various services. This project contributes to the implementation of the requirements of the National Economic Vision 2030 and its executive program, which aims to develop initiatives to facilitate leadership in establishing small and medium enterprises, and to complement the system of financing services provided by them and the parties that support small and medium enterprises in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Award for the Encouragement of Productive Families: which aims to define the value and importance of productive families' work and to encourage the transformation of low-income families into productive units that play their economic role in society. In addition to preserving the Bahraini originality and heritage, as well as encouraging support for productive families' projects and contributing to marketing their products and contributing to improving the quality of family products in order to expand competition and provide global markets for them out of Her Highness' constant keenness on the continuity of the productive families' role in promoting social and economic development.
The Capital Mall for Productive Families: It is a project to support and develop productive families' projects, and to integrate them into the national economy in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Law regulating the practice of productive activities from home (Productive Home): It is one of the most important initiatives adopted by the Ministry within the standards and controls regulating household production activities. The issuance of the Prime Minister’s Law Decree No. 39 of 2010 to organize indoor works has helped launch the initiative of Productive Home Project.
“Khatwa” project for home projects: (Khatwa) for Home Projects: it is one of the projects adopted by the Ministry of Labour & Social Development that has been considered as the best and most successful government practices for the year 2014. On the international level, the project has won the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) International prize as the best project among other 56 ones from different countries to become a pioneer in the field of supporting productive families’ projects and a role model to be imitated. The Step for Home Projects Program represents a new concept for indoor household productive work that encompasses all elements necessary for achieving the goals of economic empowerment and social stability of families, thanks to the work system’s legislations, infrastructure preparations and training, development, marketing and financing regulations.
Insurance against unemployment and the related compensations:
In enforcement of paragraph (c) of Article 5 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain, this state: “The State guarantees the requisite social security for its citizens in old age, sickness, disability, orphanhood, widowhood or unemployment, and also provides them with social insurance and healthcare services. It strives to safeguard them against ignorance, fear and poverty.” Decree Law No. (78) of 2006 regarding insurance against unemployment has been issued. This has granted the Kingdom of Bahrain an advanced position among other developed countries in terms of social safety provided for its citizens.
• Insurance against Unemployment: It is an amount of money paid to a job seeker for the first time, or to an insured that has not completed the period defined for receiving compensation in accordance with the conditions stipulated by law in the event of any failure.
• Unemployment compensation: It is an amount entitled to the insured according to the terms specified by law and is granted by those who lose their jobs for reasons beyond their control.