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<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d5979397e105">This article examines the contentious debate surrounding Universal Basic Income (UBI)—an ...

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A parliamentary committee has urged the government to unify social grants and boost funding after assessing the impact of the Omitara basic income grant pilot project. The parliamentary standing committee on health, social welfare, and labour affairs has recommended that the government synchronise all social grant programmes to avoid the duplication of beneficiaries. This recommendation follows the committee’s consultations on 5 August 2024 and 9 May this year on the two-year basic income grant (BIG) pilot programme that was launched in the Omitara community. The programme involved about 1 000 registered beneficiaries – each receiving N$100 per month from January 2008 to December 2009. Standing committee chairperson Emma Muteka presented this report in the parliament on Thursday. It found that beneficiaries who were already registered on old-age pension grants, disability grants, and vulnerable children grants were also receiving the BIG’s N$100. This was due to a lack of synchronisation. Furthermore, the report recommends that the Ministry of Finance introduce an increase in revenue to boost safety nets by amending laws constitutionally to introduce new taxes on natural resources and tourism. “Establish an agency for the effective and efficient administration, management, and payment of social grants; implement programmes for vulnerable people in age groups not catered to by current grants; strengthen data collection capacity to ensure all vulnerable Namibians are cushioned,” the report says. The report found poverty dropped significantly among Omitara community households as families could afford basic groceries, cosmetics, and clothing. According to the report, the residents also embarked on starting backyard gardens to supplement drought-relief food that often came late. “Some beneficiaries also combined their N$100 and started small businesses such as brickmaking, selling ice, baking bread, dressmaking, and shoe repairs. “Grandparents can send their children back to school, buy school uniforms, and afford to pay school fees . . . “Residents also combined BIG grants, bought corrugated iron sheets, and built themselves decent structures,” the report states. It says once the pilot programme ended, a significant rise in hunger and sickness, including malnutrition, was noted. Additionally, young people who resorted to illegal hunting landed in prison, while petty crimes committed by young children increased due to hunger and poverty. “Alcohol consumption has increased badly. Some children dropped out of school due to the unaffordability of school uniforms and hunger when returning home from school,” the report says. The post MPs call for grant system overhaul appeared first on The Namibian.

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — WKRG News 5 is responding to the many reports viewers have sent in about their EBT benefits being stolen. After hundreds of dollars are wiped from their account, they are receiving no relief after congressional funding expired in December. "It's almost like they didn't care," fraud victim Sarah Smith said. In [...]

The Socialist Health Association responds to the Chancellor’s 2025 Spring Statement. Last year, the Socialist Health Association campaigned throughout the country to help return a Labour government. W...

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