His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday stressed the need to support those in need, in line with the values of social solidarity in the holy month of Ramadan, especially amidst the challenging conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a meeting with the chairman and board members of the Zakat Fund at Al Husseiniya Palace, King Abdullah underscored the need to utilise the funds collected through zakat to enhance productivity and support small- and medium-sized enterprises, in order to empower citizens and create jobs, stressing the importance of developing a national database to ensure effective distribution to beneficiaries, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Majesty voiced appreciation for the efforts of the fund’s employees and donors, including the private sector, in supporting underprivileged families.

For his part, Zakat Fund Director Abed Smeirat gave a brief on the fund’s activities during Ramadan, which include distributing over JD6 million in in-kind and cash assistance to 65,000 households, repaying the debts of 100 women debtors (gharimat), and delivering 20 small projects to empower families.

According to Smeirat, the fund and its sub-committees, in line with Royal directives to assist female debtors (gharimat), has paid the debts of 7,000 women since 2019, at a combined value of over JD4 million, and provided assistance to more than 118,000 families at a value of over JD25 million.

He said the Zakat Fund has empowered families that were previously beneficiaries of monthly aid to become productive and self-reliant, as part of the fund’s efforts to provide 120 annual grants to enable households to launch small projects.