ABUJA – The Federal Government on Tuesday said a three window trust fund for emergency relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation and safe schools has been established to support the safe schools initiative programme.
The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said this when she briefed newsmen on the meeting with private sector, donor agencies and a former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in Abuja.
The initiative is part of effort to ensure safety of girls and women in schools in the Northern part of the country and 500 schools are to benefit from the scheme at the pilot phase.
“We have started the trust fund with three windows of emergency relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation of basic infrastructure and the safe school initiative.
“Under the safe school initiative, we have paid N1.6 billion (10 million dollars) as contribution from the Federal Government,’’ she said
She said the emergency relief window would support rapid deployment of relief material to affected communities and households.
The support, she said, would evacuate the temporary accommodation which include tent, mosquito nets, sanitary facilities, among others, and that the window would complement National Emergency’s resources.
“The rehabilitation window will focus on restoration of livelihoods by establishing support programmes like public works to repair dilapidated infrastructure such as roads and bridges and provide temporary employment for the youths,’’ she said
According to her, the windows will equally fast track the provision and resuscitation of basic services in the health sector with the construction of health centres and clinics.
The minister said the safe school initiative window would focus on upgrading existing federal, states and local government schools to make them more secured.
She said the window would be a national programme, but implementation would start with projects in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa where there were crisis arising from insurgency.
Okonjo-Iweala said apart from 20 million dollars provided by the Federal Government and Nigerian Business Community, there was an indicative grant of one million dollars from the African Development Bank.
She said the Norwegian government had also pledged to support the initiative with1.5 million dollars. (NAN)
