Abuja – The Minister of Budget and National Planning, says the draft National Social Protection Policy will help to address extreme poverty, vulnerability and inequality when implemented.
Dr Samson Ebimaro, a director in the ministry, said this while making a presentation on behalf of the ministry at the 3-day Social Protection Cross-Learning Conference on Wednesday in Abuja.
The director said that the policy which had been validated and was being re-validated to further harvest stakeholders input.
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`The Federal Government is serious about the policy as part of the implementation captured in the 2016 budget.
“The Federal Government is fully commented to the social sector and how it will affect women, children, and the poor and vulnerable in the country,’’ he said.
The official, however, said that the ministry would soon commence poverty mapping which according to him, is critical in identifying beneficiaries of the programmes.
“We need to target those that are extremely poor, especially people in absolute poverty to get out of the situation.’’
According to him, Nigeria has learnt best practices from some Africa Countries such as Kenya and South Africa that have formulated social protection and net policy.
“This policy when approved and implemented will lift million households out of extreme poverty.
“The policy will also bridge the growing gaps between the rich and the poor.’’
The director recalled that governments at various levels had social programmes that intended to address the plight of the vulnerable and down trodden masses in the past.
“This policy, therefore, is a coherent social protection policy that intends to encompass all these interventions.
“Importantly, it is a policy that is geared towards addressing the plight of downtrodden masses and the poor, even jobless ones.
“ It is a policy that explains how we can take care of the displaced people, insurgency and jobless people,’’ he said.
In addition, he said that the policy would provide safety for all social protection activities in the country.
Ebimaro said that the policy also underscored the dignity of every Nigeria in respective of status, gender, age and disability.
NAN also reports that the conference was organised by National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) under the Office of the Vice President in collaboration with Youth Employment and Social Support Operation of the Federal Ministry of Finance.
NASSCO provides guidance for the World Bank supported Youth Employment and Social Support Operations (YESSO) in collaboration with the Child Development Grant Programme (CDGP) supported by the Department for International Development (DFID).
The conference was organised as a Cross-Learning forum which brought Social Protection practitioners across the country to share experiences on the implementation of Social Safety Nets programmes (NAN)