Africa-Press – Angola. The director of the Local Development Institute (FAS), in Cuanza-Norte, Lourenço Matias, said that families in the Cabinda sector, municipality of Golungo-Alto, and other communities will be included in other phases of the Social Monetary Transfers program ( Kwenda).
Lourenço Matias informed that Kwenda will cover the largest possible number of families and that citizens, who were not registered in the first phase, will be included later, provided that the reason for their absence in the community is proven, at the time of registration and degree of vulnerability. .
The person in charge recently spoke to the press about complaints from many vulnerable citizens who do not benefit from the program, because at the time of registration they were absent from the community for various reasons, such as illness and agricultural work.
“We understand that there are many people in vulnerable situations, but the truth is that the program has phases. There was a registration phase and now the payment phase”, he clarified, informing that later there will be re-registration for citizens who need support.
After about three months of stoppage, the Institute of Local Development (FAS) resumed, on Thursday, in the municipality of Golungo Alto, the process of payment of cash benefits to vulnerable families, in several localities of the circumscription.
The program restarted with the allocation of financial support in the amount of 51,000 kwanzas to 2,172 households in the communes of Kiluanje, Cerca and Cambondo, out of the 4,511 registered in 2022 in the municipality. According to the director of FAS in Cuanza-Norte, Lourenço Matias, in the first phase, 2,339 households were assisted at the municipal headquarters of Golungo-Alto.
half-yearly support
The selected families are receiving financial support for six months, in the amount of 8,500 kwanzas per month, through multicaixa cards. The program has already registered 20,712 families in four municipalities in the province.
In a first phase, vulnerable families in the municipalities of Quiculungo are being contemplated, where 2,246 households are being contemplated, Golungo Alto, with 4,511 families and Ambaca, 12 thousand and 398 families.
In the municipality of Banga, 1,747 households are awaiting cash transfers.
In the province of Cuanza-Norte, FAS has a portfolio of 956 million and 862 thousand kwanzas, of which 405 million and 246 thousand have already been distributed.
Kwenda is an Angolan Executive Program that aims to create policies to support the poorest and most vulnerable families in the country.
Valued at USD 420 million, it is funded with USD 320 million from the World Bank and USD 100 million from the National Treasury.
The Program is operated by FAS, a government agency with legal personality, financial and administrative autonomy, which, in coordination with other programs to fight poverty, contributes to the promotion of sustainable development in communities. In addition to monetary social transfers, Kwenda also has the components of Productive Inclusion, Municipalization of Social Action, through the creation of Integrated Social Action Centers (CASI) and the Strengthening of the Single Social Register.
It has been running since 2020, with the aim of supporting 1,608,000 Angolan families across the country in situations of poverty and vulnerability.
Elders stress importance of assisting citizens
Several elders in the municipality of Golungo Alto, province of Cuanza-Norte, praised the initiative of the Angolan Government to implement the Social Monetary Transfer Program (Kwenda).
The elderly considered that the program is mitigating some economic and social deficiencies that many families experience due to lack of resources.
Icemo Mateus José, 71 years old, considered that the Government had taken a good initiative due to the fact that many families in the country experience serious problems of poverty.
He said that the 50,000 kwanzas he received will help him acquire a mattress to sleep comfortably, as well as other belongings for personal use.
Esperança Afonso, another 71-year-old woman, explained that she will invest the money in agricultural production, paying workers, depending on their physical condition, as a result of age and long years of work.
The elderly woman hopes that the Government will continue to support vulnerable families with essential goods.
João Manuel Ribeiro, 70 years old, said that with the money he will buy zinc sheets to expand his house.
For João Ribeiro, the Government’s initiative is very good, particularly for the disabled, elderly and orphans.
Maria Domingos Mateus, 56, explained that the family lacks household items such as pots, plates and cutlery, as well as medication for the treatment of her mother, who is ill.
He considered that with monetary transfers, these needs will be mitigated.
Lourenço Domingos, 76 years old, hopes that the program will be more comprehensive, because there are many needy families in the communities, as a result of the long period of war that the country has lived through. Domingas Francisco Correia, 50 years old, said that with the money he would buy a gas cylinder, a stove and means of production such as machetes, hoe and hoes.
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