The reform project is supported and financed by the World Bank.

This means that all citizens of Kosovo will be able to login to the eKosova state platform from May 18 to find out if they qualify for social assistance.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has said that the new scheme will ensure equality and promote employment, by assessing poverty in each family.

He has considered discriminatory the current scheme that excludes a family from assistance after a child turns five, or as soon as a family member is employed, no matter for what period.

“From this moment on, every family in our republic, which has a source of income lower than 100 euros per member, per month, can access eKosova and apply to become part of the pilot social assistance scheme, ” said Kurti.

The Minister of Finance of Kosovo, Hekuran Murati, said that the reform piloting process will help in drafting the bill on social assistance and will enable many families to benefit from the social scheme until the new law is approved.

He said that under the new scheme, family members will be divided into two categories: those who can work and those who cannot work.

In the category of those who cannot work, he mentioned: single parents who have children under the age of 18, persons with disabilities, persons who are in continuous education until the age of 26, pregnant women up to the period provided by the law on maternity leave, one of the parents who takes care of the child up to 12 months, family members under the age of 18 or persons over the age of 65, and all other family members, who for one reason or others are considered to be incapable of work.
Murati said that the Ministry of Finance will cooperate closely with the Labor Agency, so that people who can work and are not employed, are offered jobs and the necessary training, so that a family can gradually get out of poverty.
/sm/