Enabling Over 45,000 Social Security Beneficiaries During the First Half of 2024

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development enabled more than 45,000 beneficiaries through the Social Security Beneficiary Empowerment Program during the first half of 2024, surpassing the targeted figure of over 41,000 beneficiaries. This achievement includes enabling more than 38,000 beneficiaries in the employment track and over 7,000 beneficiaries in the economic track across various activities.

"Empowerment" is one of the Ministry's programs that offers a range of services through its partners, including job and training opportunities, as well as support services for entrepreneurial and productive projects. The goal is to improve the beneficiaries’ living and economic conditions, transforming them from recipients of care to producers with financial independence. This is achieved through three main tracks.

Empowerment Tracks:

The empowerment tracks for social security beneficiaries are divided into three main tracks: the Employment Track, which focuses on assisting through the Ministry’s partners from various sectors in providing job and training opportunities, through registration on “Taqat” platform affiliated with the Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) or other approved employment platforms, in addition to job fairs in different regions of the Kingdom. The second track is the Economic Empowerment Track, which contributes to providing financial and non-financial support and training for beneficiaries to advance their entrepreneurial ventures or productive projects and offers advice and assistance in preparing feasibility studies through specialists and experts. The third track is the Rehabilitation Track, which aims to offer rehabilitation programs and services to beneficiaries who are capable of being rehabilitated, including health, psychological, and social rehabilitation.

More than 7,000 Beneficiaries Empowered in the Economic Track:

The empowerment activities for social security beneficiaries in this track included providing both financial and non-financial support for their productive projects and entrepreneurial activities. This was achieved through offering a range of incentives that enable beneficiaries to start their own projects. The Ministry collaborated with the Social Development Bank to hold numerous meetings and workshops, resulting in providing concessional loans to beneficiaries for starting their projects and investments in the labor market, in addition to training, rehabilitation, and technical follow-up for the projects. The training courses in this track covered various topics such as Establishing Productive Projects, Feasibility Studies and Effectiveness in the Labor Market, Investing in Labor Market Opportunities, Preparing Business Plans for Entrepreneurs, Project Innovation Fundamentals, Project Growth Strategies, as well as specialized courses in commercial regulations, accounting, and leadership and development in commercial projects.

The third track is the Rehabilitation and Training Track, which contributes to the rehabilitation and training of social security beneficiaries who can work and provides them with job-enabling skills in line with labor market requirements. By the end of the first half of 2024, more than 10,813 beneficiaries had been trained through implementing over 423 training courses and workshops held at social security offices across various regions of the Kingdom. These included courses in English language, computer usage and applications, technology entrepreneurship, cybersecurity fundamentals, management leadership skills, computer maintenance, project feasibility studies, analytical accounting (cost management), freelancing opportunities, mobile phone maintenance workshops, business model design, marketing, and digital transformation, revenue management, Excel skills, executive secretarial skills, resume design, HR for non-specialists, graphic design, and financial awareness. Training announcements are continuously made to beneficiaries by social security offices.

The Ministry has signed more than 131 strategic partnerships and memorandums of cooperation through its offices in various regions of the Kingdom to serve and empower social security beneficiaries in the labor market. These partnerships include training institutes, charitable organizations, private sector institutions, and government entities. To create meeting points between employers and social security beneficiaries who are capable of working, the Ministry organized over 86 empowerment forums across the Kingdom, involving private sector institutions and offering numerous job and training opportunities in the labor market.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development participated in the "New Trends in Public Behavioral Policy" conference held from June 27-28, 2024, at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The Ministry presented a brief overview of its pioneering initiatives, ongoing projects, and ambitious future plans, focusing on its commitment to enhancing the social welfare system and contributing to improving rehabilitation, training, and employment rates for social security program beneficiaries.

The Ministry also contributed to the success of the Hajj season 1445 Hijri by implementing the "Empowerment Clinics" program. This program aims to conduct a comprehensive study of the situation of social security beneficiaries and orphans, providing support across various social, health, and psychological aspects, as well as supporting employment, rehabilitation, and housing. The program seeks to transform beneficiaries from aid recipients to productive contributors to society. The program included around 950 Hajj pilgrims from social security beneficiaries and orphans as part of the campaign organized by the Ministry.

As part of its efforts to empower beneficiaries across different regions of the Kingdom, the Ministry held the Eastern Region Empowerment Forum from June 3 to 4, 2024, to support social security beneficiaries by providing training and employment opportunities and supporting projects. The forum aimed to enable beneficiaries to engage in the labor market and achieve financial independence. The forum was attended by approximately 1,622 beneficiaries, with around 33 participating entities and over 1,800 job opportunities provided. Additionally, 12 training workshops were held, benefiting more than 342 individuals.