The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, made her first official visit to Melilla. This Thursday he met with the joint Provincial Directorate of the General Treasury of Social Security (TGSS) and the National Institute of Social Security (INSS), as well as with the team of Save The Children in charge of the development of the project of inclusion itineraries for families with minors in vulnerable situations.
Melilla has been one of the four cities, together with Fuenlabrada, Cadiz and Seville, where the NGO has executed one of the 34 pilots associated with the Minimum Vital Income (IMV), within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) financed by the European Union.
A total of 792 families have participated (1,357 adults and 1,701 minors), beneficiaries of the IMV and/or the regional minimum income. “In Melilla, 240 homes have been accompanied to facilitate their access to services, benefits and employment, while work has been done to prevent the exclusion of girls, boys and adolescents through education,” said Saiz, who has
He had a meeting with the technical team and the intervention team of the Save the Children project. He has also met some of the participating families, who have conveyed their impressions and how this pilot has contributed to improving children’s educational performance.
“The evaluation tells us that acting in this way, on the circumstances of all family members, produces significant effects on academic performance by increasing grades in Mathematics and Language by one point, on the expectations of parents, which more verbalize the perception that children can go to university, and on the economic conditions of households,” said Elma Saiz. The itinerary is now complete and at least 18 good practices from the 34 pilots will be presented to the European Commission shortly.
The minister stressed the importance of developing such a project in the Autonomous City because, “together with Ceuta, it is the city with the highest proportion of people benefiting from the Minimum Vital Income”.
More than 2,500 households, 80% with minors, perceive the VMI
The IMV has reached 3,700 families since 2020, with special incidence in households with minors. “To this end, we have invested 56 million euros and have promoted three pilot routes: that of Save The Children, another of Fundación Bofill focused on education and that of EAPN Spain to analyze the coverage gap of the IMV, that is, why people with the right to the benefit have not requested it.”
At present, 2,500 households with 10,000 persons, 80 per cent with dependants, receive the benefit. The Child Support Supplement reaches more than 2,000 families.
Visit to TGSS and INSS
Next, Saiz visited the joint Provincial Directorate of the TGSS and the INSS and the Casa del Mar, where he greeted the workers of the entities and thanked them for their “vocation of exemplary service” and daily work, always with the premise of excellence in care.
In addition, they have addressed “the important transformation and modernization of the public pension and social security system”, an ambitious reform process that has served to strengthen the system and improve the protection of citizens. “We want the relationship with Social Security to be easier, more agile, closer. To achieve this, we will put heart, ears, hands and more personnel, and we will help ourselves with all the technology that is within our reach,” he concluded.
In Melilla, the Ministry protects one in five people. Thanks to the revaluation of pensions, 10,600 melillenses have seen it increased on average by almost 700 euros per year. On the other hand, the minister has highlighted during the power of the quality of employment in Melilla and of the female employment. “83% of the members in Melilla are indefinite, thanks to the labor reform. In addition, I am pleased to see that 49% of the members here are women, two points above the national average,” said Saiz.
A Humanitarian Care Center of Reference in Spain and the World
The Minister visited yesterday the Temporary Stay Centre for Immigrants (CETI) of Melilla, where she toured the facilities together with the staff of the Subdirectorate General of Reception Centres and the device itself, who detailed the basic social services and benefits they offer, such as accommodation and maintenance, social care, psychological care, health care, legal advice and training services.
This device opened its doors 25 years ago to provide a first provisional reception for immigrants and asylum seekers arriving in both Ceuta and Melilla. Its occupancy level at the moment is around 47%.
“Absolutely fascinated with the Melilla Migrant Centre and the work of its professionals. A perfect reflection of the migratory action of the Government of Spain together with social entities. Hospitality, humanity and formation. With human rights at the centre, in short,” said the Minister.