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The Federal Government has revealed plans to include over 15 million households nationwide in the refreshed Conditional Cash Transfer, CCT, initiative, as part of it’s updated Social Safety Net Project.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu disclosed this during a meeting with Country Director of World Bank, Shubham Chaudhuri, on Thursday in Abuja.
Edu expressed appreciation to the World Bank for their ongoing support to Nigeria, particularly in education, health, agriculture, private sector development, social services, and more.
The minister explained that the ‘Renewed Hope agenda’ of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led to the renaming of the Ministry to Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to directly focus on the people and lift them out of poverty.
“The flexibility of World Bank to accommodate the re-focused agenda of the Ministry to eliminate poverty is a welcome development.
“The Ministry is preparing to host the Humanitarian Dialogue as well as creation of the Renewed Hope Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund (HPATF).
“The Trust Fund is expected to come from Federal Government budgetary provision and allocation, Development partners, international community, taxes, private sector contribution among others.
“The Ministry need the support of World bank to verify and expand the National Social Register (NSR) and offer your technical support in order to work with the Ministry to achieve Mr. President’s target,” she stated.
In his remarks, the World Bank Country Director, Chaudhuri, pledged to provide all the needed support for the new Minister to deliver on the new focus of the ministry.
He disclosed that the “proposed disbursement of $800 million for the Social Safety Nets Project will commence soonest.
“We will support the verification and scaling up of the National Social Register, provide technical support in the preparation of the Ministry to attend UNGA and give specialized backing for the establishment of the Trust Fund.”
Meanwhile, Edu has solicited for the support of Humanitarian Correspondents in achieving the set goals of the proposed cash transfer to 15 million households which represents average of 5.7 per household.
“We should always think through how best can this information goe down to the grassroot and to the poor man who may not have TV, may not have radio they might not be able to afford newspaper to read your news.
“There’s a huge gap between government and the governed. They don’t the bones of government,” she noted.
In the bid to correct the wrongs, she pledged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will “put them right at the centre of decision making of the nation no of over 230 million people.”
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