The funds allocated to the economic empowerment programme for families in vulnerable situations have been multiplied to reach TND 8 million for 2024, Minister of the Family, Women, Children and the Elderly, Amel Belhaj Moussa, said Monday.

Speaking at a ceremony to hand over 202 permits to create sources of income under the Economic Empowerment Programme for Families in Special Circumstances, on National Family Day, which falls on December 11 each year, the minister said that more than 2,700 families have benefited from this programme since it was launched in 2012.

She pointed out that the years 2022 and 2023 are be among the most important, with a significant increase in the number of beneficiaries, estimated at more than 1,550 families, including 721 families in 2023, thanks to the mobilisation of a budget of TND 4.5 million in the governorates of Siliana, Sfax, Bizerte, Le Kef, Médenine, Jendouba, Tataouine and Béja.

She added that the sustainability rate of these projects has reached 91%, meaning that
91% of the beneficiary families have been economically empowered.

The minister pointed out that around 75% of the programme’s beneficiaries are aged between 29 and 50, and that projects have been launched in a number of sectors, including services, agriculture, trade and crafts.

She emphasised that the expected results of the programme are to improve the living conditions of families and to contribute to reducing the number of school drop-outs among students from families benefiting from the programme.

The latter also aims to reduce poverty and unemployment at local, regional and national levels, the minister added.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse