Among the Ismail government’s flagship welfare projects are the World Bank-backed Takaful and Karama cash benefits programs. Al Shorouk spoke with Hania El Sholkamy, one of the program’s architects, who explained they’re designed to combat extreme poverty. The difference between Takaful and Karama, she says, is that Karama is designed to be disbursed to the elderly and the disabled to provide them with a monthly financial support. The Takaful program was initially designed to support households with major seasonal expenditures and was thus designed to be disbursed quarterly. El Sholkamy believes the current implementation in which Takaful is paid out monthly is a mistake. She says the program has to continue to be conditional — ensuring recipients’ children remain enrolled in education and health care service, for example — but it’s proving challenging. The full interview is available here.