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NewsGov. Sani Announces Social Programs For Children, Aged, Rural Women  As Sci...

Gov. Sani Announces Social Programs For Children, Aged, Rural Women  As Sci Assures Support To Reduce Multi-dimensional Poverty

Gov. Sani Announces Social Programs For Children, Aged, Rural Women  As Sci Assures Support To Reduce Multi-dimensional Poverty

 

 

By: Femi Mustapha

 

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani has assured that his administration will continue to develop creative and innovative strategies to pull citizens of the State out of poverty.

To this end, the Governor announced his administration’s three flagship social protection programs for children, aged, and women in rural areas.

The Governor, who stated this on 27th August 2024  while addressing the maiden Kaduna State Social Protection Summit at Umaru Musa Yar’adua Hall, said his government has impacted the lives of the citizens through our social protection programs, but there is room for improvement.

According to Governor Sani, “We must continue to refine our processes and come up with creative and innovative strategies to pull our citizens out of poverty.

“Since we assumed office in May 2023, we have placed a high premium on bringing succor to the poor, vulnerable, and underserved in Kaduna State. We have been carrying out pro-poor measures to bring needed relief to our citizens.

“A few days after I took the oath of office, I signed an Executive Order on Financial Inclusion to address the exclusion of the poor, under-served, and vulnerable from financial services and ensure that they benefit from social intervention programs of Kaduna State and the Federal Government.

“The aim is to empower people with tools like savings accounts, credit, insurance, and digital payment options, enabling them to participate in the formal financial system, manage their finances, and build economic resilience.

“We set for ourselves the target of facilitating the opening of 2.5 million bank accounts for poor, vulnerable, and underserved citizens of Kaduna State. Through our efforts, 2 million bank accounts have been opened. We are working assiduously to ensure that bank accounts are opened for the remaining 500,000 less-privileged citizens of Kaduna State.

“I also signed into law the State Social Security Bill and the Kaduna State Social Investment Programmes Bill which created an agency to coordinate all national and sub-national social protection interventions in the State.

“We have developed a credible Social Register for Social Intervention Programs. Because of the effective implementation of the Executive Order on Financial Inclusion, especially the opening of bank accounts and development of a credible Social Register, our previously excluded citizens are now able to benefit from Kaduna State and Federal Government’s social intervention programs.

“Our administration’s 3 Flagship Social Protection Programmes are i. Kaduna State Universal Child Grant Programme ii. Ultra-Poor Graduation Programme for Women in Rural Areas, and iii. Kaduna State Old-Age Social Pension Scheme for the Informal Sector.

“We have sustained our progress in the area of social interventions through the forging of strategic partnerships with national and international partners. Our partnership with the Government of the United Kingdom in Nigeria culminated in the signing of the Mutual Accountability Framework For Socio-Economic Development (MAF) this year.

“As you are aware, the MAF is a blueprint for socio-economic development covering economic transformation, governance, health, education, and social protection. This high-level Summit with the theme “Rethinking Social Protection Systems: Building Integrated Systems for Comprehensiveness and Financial Inclusion” is, therefore, a major step that will showcase to the world what we are doing in Kaduna State in the area of Social Protection.

“We require support and cooperation in the following areas: Enhancing and increasing the coverage of key programs around governance; Improving the delivery of basic services for the poor with a focus on health, education, and social protection; Supporting economic recovery through inclusive growth and development with particular focus on social protection systems strengthening and youth employment, as well as climate-smart development; and Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy for the Poor and Vulnerable,” he said.

The Governor acknowledged the contributions made by our implementing partners like the World Bank, Save the Children International, GAIN, and UNICEF, as well as the Indigenous Kaduna Social Protection Accountability Coalition for co-organizing the Summit with the Kaduna State Government, and for their dedication to the wellbeing of all residents of the State.

Earlier in her welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Social Investment, Bridget Suleiman Adamu stressed that the summit was aimed at providing a platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue.

According to her, the summit is not merely a gathering; it is an opportunity for all stakeholders to engage in meaningful discussions about the strategies that will shape the future of social protection in Kaduna State.

“We can create systems that are more effective, more inclusive, and better aligned with the needs of our people. By leveraging financial inclusion and the social register. We seek to generate far-reaching recommendations that will accelerate the adoption and utilization of social protection. These recommendations are not intended to be mere words on paper; they represent actionable steps that, when implemented, will lead to a more robust and responsive social protection system,” he said.

Speaking earlier the Senior Policy and Stakeholders Engagement Advisor Save  the  Children  International (SCI), Gyanggyang T. Yimave said SCi through an FCDO/UK government initiative grant program, the Expanding Social Protection for Inclusive Development (ESPID) Programme is working to reduce multi-dimensional poverty among children and their caregivers through the increase of government delivery of effective and inclusive shock-responsive social protection and ensuring the citizens are better able to influence the design, monitoring, and accountability of social protection programs.

According to him, the pathways to achieve this include the strengthening of policies, legislations, institutions, and programs at the state and federal levels;

“Increased generation and use of social protection evidence-base; and increased capacity among civil society to facilitate citizen engagement in social protection programming.

“The program has over time supported Kaduna state in several areas including Technical assistance Advisory support, Capacity building including secondment of staff to handhold, couch and engage civil servants to enhance their capacity for effective and efficient design and delivery of social protection interventions.

“Also, the program has supported the state in crafting policies, strategic plans, and legislations.

“ESPID has further supported the state to design interventions, especially the famous youth focus graduation program.

“Additionally, the program has supported strategies to improve social protection delivery systems including the development of an integrated MIS.

“The implementation of a social accountability process, including the budget tracking of social protection interventions conducted by CSOs who share feedback with the government to improve budgeting processes in the state, is indeed unprecedented.

“Regarding the partnership, the state’s commitment to engage CSOs and development partners is unprecedented, including the partnership leading to the organization of the first-ever state social protection summit as this one.

“His Excellency, sir, there is no gain in reiterating the fact that so much effort has been put into place to put this summit together.

“Worthy of note, however, is the need to ensure that the agenda which will be set by the summit should be implemented to the letter by the state government.

“Though mindful of the efforts of the state to support social protections, I make bold to request for more just like Oliver Twist

“Haven said that I wish the state the best of tomorrows and pray that the leadership of His Excellency, Sen. Uba San will continue to put smiles on the faces of all residents of the state. ” He said

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