ABU DHABI // The Cabinet has postponed a decision on an FNC proposal for the introduction of unemployment benefits and social support in the community.
The decision to carry out further study into the proposals disappointed FNC members, who first presented their recommendations last May.
After a study into the social support system was carried out by the council's Health, Labour, and Social Affairs committee, eight proposals were presented to the Minister of Social Affairs, Mariam Al Roumi, at a public session in May last year, then presented to the Cabinet.
The minister accepted some proposals but disagreed with others, including a call to introduce unemployment benefits. At the time, she said she did not want people to become dependent.
"Whoever deserves it gets help," she told the council on May 8 last year. "An addict who has worked on keeping to their rehabilitation programme should, as it would be hard for them to get a job, but a person who had work and quit it should not."
She said the ministry's role was to provide social help, not social security.
The Cabinet says it will carry out further study into the matter before making a decision.
The same applies to a proposal to provide social support for unmarried women, married men who are students and divorcees under the age of 35.
Ahmed Al Shamsi (Ajman) was the first in the council to express his annoyance.
"All these recommendations are very important - and now they are postponed to be looked into," he said.
Marwan bin Ghalita (Dubai) said: "To postpone, we need to put a time frame. Or is it open-ended as it is here? We want to set a time for study because these issues are important."
Khalifa Al Suwaidi (Abu Dhabi) said it was crucial that job seekers were helped. Salem Al Ameri (Abu Dhabi), head of the committee that conducted the study, believed a delay in the Cabinet's response was not justifiable.
"We spent a long time studying this, now the responses come after a whole year," he said.
Sultan Al Sammahi (Fujairah) suggested that council members take direct action.
"We must also present this to leaders," he said. "We want communication to be direct. This is what society wants from the FNC."
A proposal to tie financial aid to inflation and social developments was also refused by the Cabinet, despite the minister's support for the idea.
She said last year that the direct link between aid and inflation was important, but difficult because there was no poverty line or indication where it should be.
"Most countries around the world have a poverty line, and depending on it can decide on the help," she said. "Here we do not have a poverty line, and we are trying to study as much as we can prices in the market. But probably this will not give us the right picture."
Other recommendations presented to the Cabinet were approved.
These included placing restrictions on beneficiaries, exempting them from certain government fees, and increasing the number of social researchers and giving them regular training. The cabinet also agreed to the idea of launching a joint database between the ministry and employment agencies.
As members concluded their closing session on Tuesday, they agreed that from now on, their recommendations would be followed up until executed.
This would require Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for FNC Affairs, to follow accepted recommendations by the Cabinet.
Those that are refused or given other responses will be referred back to the council.
The council will then respond back to the Cabinet with their official opinion and reasoning.
