Ministry plans to lower age for SAGE beneficiaries
What you need to know:
- Currently, only citizens aged 80 and above are eligible to receive the monthly allowance of Shs25,000.
The government has said it is in the final stages of drafting a paper it will present to Parliament to lower the eligibility age for the monthly beneficiaries of the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (Sage) programme for elderly citizens.
Currently, only citizens aged 80 and above are eligible to receive the monthly allowance of Shs25,000. Some observers, including MPs, think this requirement ought to be lowered.
“The Ministry of Gender is working and finalising a paper that we shall take to Cabinet and Parliament to lower the age of the current Sage beneficiaries. The only thing we are still battling with is to lower to what age,” Ms Betty Amongi, the Gender minister, said on Friday while launching a report on child-sensitive social protection in Kampala.
She added that financial analysis shows that “if we are to undertake gradual lowering, probably we would start by lowering to 75, then 70, and eventually reach the target of 65.”
Children’s report
Meanwhile, a report by Save the Children, an NGO, launched on Friday revealed that the majority of children in the country are experiencing significant vulnerabilities yet most of them have no social safety net.
“The social and economic crisis resulting from Covid-19 has caused a major setback in children’s wellbeing. It has left many children out of school and unable to access essential services.
Therefore, it is important to invest in the children...,” the report reads in part.
Ms Amongi said the government is committed to gradually increase allocation of resources to various social protection programmes.
