In trying to eradicate poverty in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Social Affairs is guided by the wise saying: “Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime.” Yousef Al-Othaimeen, Minister of Social Affairs, hence called for educating, training, and employing the poor so as to help them make a living rather than simply making direct social security cash deposits into their bank accounts. His comment came during a meeting with the faculty of the College of Arts and Humanities at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) Saturday. The meeting was attended by Dr. Osama Al-Tayyib, President of the University. The minister said financial help for the poor would be considered in cases of disability and inability to work. The ministry makes payments amounting to over SR1 billion a month to help poor people who are unable to take up work, he said. The minister visited the college to forge a partnership between his ministry and the college. “We would like to extend our relationship with the ministry in terms of research and training programs,” said Dr.Muhammad Saeed Al-Ghamdi, Dean of the College of Arts. Al-Othaimeen urged the university to encourage its students to engage in voluntary social work and make it a graduation requirement, expressing full cooperation with the ministry to open internships program for the university students and to provide researchers with access to the ministry's database. The ministry has placed its hope in academia to provide up-to-date research on emerging social problems like domestic violence, divorce, homelessness, and poverty. The ministry has adopted innovative methods of treating poverty through education, training, employment opportunities, and even financing programs for small business from the Credit and Savings Bank, the Centennial Fund, and the National Benevolence Fund. People who fall in the poverty category and are able to work are more than those who can't work, the minister said. The ministry has been working to provide those who are able to work with training opportunities to elevate their living conditions. “We don't want to keep them permanently hostage to social welfare money,” the minister said. Following a royal order, charity organizations in the Kingdom will change their mechanism of doing business starting next year with their first conference, Al-Othaimeen said. Working as a volunteer can be extremely satisfying and rewarding as it offers a great way of finding out more about different kinds of social work and social care, he said. A week on social work might help disseminate the culture of voluntary social work, encouraging KAU to take the initiative by starting the week in the Makkah region as a trial, he added.
