Families that work, yet still live below the poverty line, get no financial help from the government, says Mahmoud Kafaween, director of the National Aid Fund (NAF).

“The poor in Jordan are not simply the families covered by NAF, but low-income households, or those we define as the working poor, who do not have social security and other services that provide a social safety net. These households living below the poverty line are a vulnerable segment, which remains invisible and needs assistance,” Kafaween adds.

Kafaween is helping a new government body called the Social Solidarity Commission to direct services, such as cheap housing, to people living below the poverty line, whether or not they have work.