(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Several needy families, orphans, individuals and excelling students in underprivileged areas will benefit from a donation-financed programme to implement income-generating projects to enhance their living conditions.
Dubbed Sadaqa, or "charity work", the project will be launched Thursday by the Islamic Organisations and Societies Council (IOSC) on the occasion of Ramadan. It entails collecting donations and extending interest-free loans to the targeted segments.
"The project seeks to promote charity work, especially in Ramadan, and enhance solidarity between the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak," Chief Islamic Justice Ahmad Hilayel, who is also president of the council, told reporters yesterday.
Sadaqa envisages the establishment of 100 projects for orphans, 50 for needy families, and 25 to support high-achieving but economically disadvantaged students, as well as improving the situation of the council's Koran memorisation centres in several poverty pockets across Jordan.
According to IOSC Secretary General Mohammad Kheir Kilani, the council's affiliated entities will receive proposals for projects from the targeted segments starting Thursday, when the project is officially launched.
"Once our centres receive any request to start a certain project, specialised committees will study the feasibility of the project and if it is found feasible, an interest-free loan will be given to the beneficiary for a period of five years," Kilani told reporters.
During the five-year period, the council will monitor the progress of the project and train beneficiaries on financial and administrative skills to render the project a success, he said, adding that the donations will be given in the form of loans to benefit a large number of people.
MP Abdul Rahim Biqai, a supporter of the project, said the council will directly contact benefactors and companies to collect donations to finance the project.
The council, which was established in 1974 as an independent commission, includes 37 Islamic societies, 53 Koran memorisation centres and 27 Islamic scout groups across Jordan.
By: Mohammad Ghazal
