THE speaker of the Shoura Council and several of its members recently met with Minister of Social Affairs Majed Abdullah Al-Qasabi to discuss the obstacles, challenges, goals and successfully completed projects undertaken by the ministry. Numerous other issues were discussed but perhaps the most important one brought up by a Shoura Council member was the increasing gap between the rich and poor and the disappearance of middle-class families in Saudi society, Al-Riyadh daily reports. Al-Qasabi agreed with the council member's point of view regarding the Kingdom's shrinking middle class and stressed that the issue should be thoroughly studied to find the reason behind the widening gap because the middle class is considered the most influential and dynamic segment of society. Statistics In 2015, the ministry allocated 87 percent of its budget to social aid including welfare and social development. The number of orphans the ministry supports directly in its facilities stands at 1,400 and a further 8,600 outside its facilities. Last year, officials at the ministry caught 12,400 beggars,13 percent of whom citizens. The number of male and female teenagers found begging on the streets last year was 15,000 and 90 percent of them were Saudi. The number of expatriate maids in the ministry's shelters is 88,000 while the number of women who are inmates in the protection centers is 7,900. In 2015, the Saudi Credit and Savings Bank approved SR11.5 million in loans for social purposes including marriage, restoration of houses, start-up capital for new businesses, etc. Regarding the number of women employed in the ministry, Al-Qasabi said: "Today, 44 percent of our staff members are women and the ministry employs 16,000 people, of whom 47 percent hold high school diplomas. We desperately need to train more qualified people." Challenges One of the challenges the ministry continues to face is the situation of divorcees and women who have been deserted by their husbands. Al-Qasabi said this issue is of great concern and one the ministry has struggled to solve. "There is no doubt that widows and divorcees need the ministry's utmost attention. We are working on strategies and programs catering to this important section of society. The road might be long and the challenges might be immense but we have started to take effective steps," he stressed. The ministry is using the help of foreign companies to develop strategies for curbing domestic violence and providing more welfare to the elderly and the disabled, he said. The ministry's new vision is to build a well-knit society that preserves its identity and sees stability and development across all sectors. He pointed out that the ministry also has performance indicators in place to assess the performance of its staff members and ensure all ministry employees are following its short- and long
