Muscat – The Social Protection Fund (SPF) on Sunday announced the commencement of online registration of orphans, widows and people with disabilities for social welfare benefits.

The government – through this fund – is extending a financial support of RO130 per month to each person living with some sort of permanent disability or illness that requires constant support and care.

While confirming this, an SPF official also informed that a widow or an orphan is entitled to a monthly support of RO80 per month is all conditions are met.

The most important to note that these benefits are for Omani nationals residing in the country, the official underlined.

Under the Orphans and Widows Benefits programme, the government provides monthly financial support to help people facing challenges resulting from the loss of their family’s breadwinner.

As per the criteria, in cases where the benefits for orphans or widows entitled to pensions from social insurance are less than the value of this benefit, or in cases where they have no pensions, the SPF official explained.

The eligibility criteria for orphans stipulate that a beneficiary must be 18 years of age; must be an orphan of one or both parents; or those deemed orphans if one or both parents are unknown.

According the official, the widows seeking benefits from this fund must not have reached the age of 60 and did not remarry.

The entitlement of the widows would stop after remarriage, and will not be disbursed except in the event of widowhood again.

The SPF official has urged all members fulfilling the set criteria to register for benefits only through the fund’s official website https://www.spf.gov.om/

The Social Protection Fund is the official entity responsible for launching all social protection initiatives and programmes in the Sultanate of Oman. 

Its mission is to implement the provisions of the Social Protection Law and the relevant legislation, and to cooperate with the authorities dedicated for carrying out protection, empowerment, integration, welfare and support programmes to ensure the availability of such programmes to eligible categories, the official explained.

While the benefits for the applicants will be disbursed from the end of January 2024, the registration for those benefits is a continuous process and runs without any deadline.