The Ministry of Social Affairs announced that it will extend the Emergency Social Safety Net Project (ESSN), known as "AMAN", for an additional five months starting from the end of March 2025. The ministry attributed its decision to the difficult economic conditions that continue to impact thousands of Lebanese families. It considered that it was necessary to extend the program to ensure the continuityof support for the poorest households, and added that it aims to expand the number of beneficiaries in the next phase.  Further, it pointed out that there are 166,000 Lebanese families, or 798,187 individuals, benefiting from the AMAN program that account for 45% of households in Lebanon who are below the poverty line, and that the monthly cash transfers for the program reach approximately $20m. It added that 12,500 individuals with disabilities are currently benefiting from the cash grants under the National Disability Allowance program.  In addition, it expected the 2025 budget to earmark LBP1,200bn to the ministry to fund its cash support programs, and indicated that it is working with partners and donor countries to secure additional funding and to expand the circle of beneficiaries.  Also, it noted that the emergency cash assistance from the World Food Program, which will continue until the end of April 2025, is supporting 44,000 Lebanese families affected by the recent conflict, which increased the need for social protection more than ever before.  In parallel, the ministry announced that it disbursed $23.3m in financial assistance in January 2025. The distribution of the monetary support consisted of $18.14m paid to 160,388 vulnerable Lebanese households through the AMAN program, and the "National Program to Support the Poorest Families"; $4.4m in emergency assistance disbursed to 44,115 displaced Lebanese families; and $781,170 transferred to 18,888 individuals with disabilities who benefit from cash grants under the National Disability Allowance program.  The ministry previously announced that the transfer of funds related to the AMAN program resumed on September 15, 2024, after it suspended payments at the start of July. It added that the ministry conducted visits to Lebanese households that registered for the program in 2024 in order to determine their eligibility. It announced that 583,000 Lebanese households registered for the AMAN program since September 2021 in order to receive a monthly financial assistance for a period of one year. It indicated that it transferred a total of $158.9m to the eligible households as at the end of June 2023, after it extended the project several times to target more vulnerable families, and said that many families benefited from monthly payments for 18 months instead of 12 months. It added that it took exceptional measures by paying money for a period of one year to 10,000 households that have a member of the family who requires special needsor that have a widower. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: Byblos Bank, March 3 - 8, 2025