Fund for divorced women 'not meant to encourage divorce'

Minister of National Solidarity, the Family and Women’s Affairs, Mounia Meslem stressed Thursday in Algiers the project for the creation of a fund intended to divorced women with custody of minor children “is not meant to encourage divorce” but to “help divorced women’s children.” The creation of a fund for divorced women with custody of minor children “is not intended to encourage divorce but to help minor children when the father is unable or refuses to pay alimony in case of divorce" Meslem said during an inspection visit to Dar Errahma in  Birkhadem, on the occasion of the international Day of Families.  Algerian State’s policy still tends to "stability and cohesion within the family and the protection of children," the minister stated. The amount to be paid by the fund to divorced women with custody of minor children "corresponds to the pension fixed by the judge at the final judgment of divorce," she affirmed. Also, the minister rejected the idea that the fund is mean to encourage divorce.  In a message to Algerian women on the occasion of the International Women's Day, President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika instructed the government to start thinking about the creation of a fund for divorced women having custody of minor children. The refusal or inability of the father to pay alimony "undermines the dignity of women and the human rights of children and requires solution worthy of a united State," President Bouteflika underscored.