Waso welcomes concession on housing |05 September 2020
The Women in Action and Solidarity Organisation (Waso) has welcomed government decision for a 25% reduction on housing loan or rent payment.
Commenting on this move, the chairperson of Waso, Rosemary Elizabeth, says: “We are pleased with this decision because as Waso, we are aware of the suffering of the families especially single women with under aged children. Many are facing great difficulties and have to depend on supplementary benefit from the Agency for Social Protection even if they have a job. They struggle to get fathers to take responsibility to maintain their children born out of wedlock, and sometimes even some born in a stable relationship who are abandoned when their parents separate.”
“These women struggle to make ends meet and this will at least be a relief for many of them who are in this situation,” says Ms Elizabeth.
“When we analyse their situation we note that often their income remains unchanged and is quite low. To note that many are in the lowest paid job like home carers and URS,” notes Ms Elizabeth.
“On the other hand, we are all aware that the prices of basic commodity goods in the shops have shot up and when we analyse these families’ income and expenses, we see that even if they are assisted by welfare, it is still a struggle for them, because in many circumstances, apart from housing loan or rent, they also have bank loan which does not match their income and when it is pay as you earn deduction straight on their bank transferred salary, they are left with very little. This adds up to the fact that so many of them do not have a culture of budgeting. They often spend as they earn and not according to needs but more so in line with what their children want,” Ms Elizabeth remarks.
“Here Waso totally agrees with Ceps’ declaration to educate and support families on a one to one basis. However Ceps needs to get its strategy right, because doing the right things at the right time involves much good planning before operationalising such an initiative. Going on a one to one basis at family level means one has to reach out to educate the whole family. Volunteers may be willing but the willingness to be helped must also come from families who need such assistance,” Ms Elizabeth argues.
“In actual fact Waso feels that we do not need another survey for that, but an action research would be useful and it could be done in collaboration with the ministries of Family Affairs and of Local Government and other partners who strongly believe in socio economic development for the family, women and youth empowerment,” says Ms Elizabeth.
“To conclude I wish to state that as Waso some good steps in the right direction is always most welcome and should be supported by one and all,” concludes Ms Elizabeth.
Press release from Waso