The United Nations Children Fund
(UNICEF) recently organised a special training programme for senior
officials constituting the implementing team of the Federal Government’s
Cash Transfers and Homegrown School Feeding programmes in has ended in
Asaba, the Delta State capital. Omon-Julius Onabu, who was there, reports
A special training programme organised
by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) for senior officials
constituting the implementing team of the Federal Government’s Cash
Transfers and Homegrown School Feeding programmes in Delta State has
ended in Asaba, the state capital.
The two-day training exercise was geared
towards equipping the participants with both the philosophical
framework and practical steps towards the effective implementation of
the programmes in the state. The programme represents an invaluable
icing on the cake as the Delta State Government awaits due nod from the
federal government to kick-start the much-talked-about related social
protection programmes.
Social Protection
United Nations agency, the United
Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), defines Social Protection as “the set of
public and private policies and programmes aimed at preventing,
reducing and eliminating economic and social vulnerabilities to poverty
and deprivation. Social Protection is essential to furthering UNICEF’s
commitment to the realisation of the rights of children, women and
families to an adequate standard of living and essential services.”
Similarly, the Federal Government, while
underscoring the relevance of the socio-economic intervention in the
‘Draft National Social Protection Policy: Federal Republic of Nigeria
(National Planning Commission)’, defines Social Protection as “A mix of
policies and programmes designed for individuals and households
throughout the life cycle to prevent and reduce poverty and
socio-economic shocks by promoting and enhancing livelihoods and a life
of dignity.”
Accountability Need
In his presentation during the training
held in Asaba, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Rivers Field Office, Mr.
Wilbroad Ngambi, stressed the need for “social accountability” in the
implementation especially of the Cash Transfers, warning that all risks
and loopholes that would permit any frauds must be identified and guided
against.
Ngambi, who noted that cash transfers as
a “poverty alleviation or lift above the poverty line” measure of the
government has several practical issues, stressed that the implementer
or facilitating team must give the government functionaries due
professional counsel and avoid all forms of biased exploitation or
manipulation of the process from the planning stage to the
implementation/monitoring and evaluation stages.
He pointed out that, beyond the social
and economic objectives of social protection measures, they are also a
human right in line with various articles of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. For instance, Article 22 states, “Everyone, as a member
of society, has the right to social security”; while Article 25
stipulates, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living.”
Ngambi emphasised that the process and
methodology must be thoroughly appreciated and domesticated so that the
implementation is carried out in a manner best suited to the peculiarity
of Delta State communities and people, because “definition of the
poorest of the poor differs from one community to the other.”
He also encouraged the implementing
team(s) for the two lift-above -the- poverty-line programmes to organise
well-structured and targeted advocacy to enable them obtain the desired
maximal outcomes.
Programme Implementation
Speaking at the event on behalf of the
state commissioner for Economic Planning, Dr. Kingsley Emu, the
Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Benjamin Igo, highlighted the
efforts so far made by the state government to ensure a hitch-free
implementation of the programmes, stressing that human and material
resources were being duly mobilised to that effect.
He noted that the Delta State Government
has often had a robust working relation with UNICEF, noting that the
state had benefited, and was still benefiting, from the assistance of
the United Nations agency in several areas.
Igo, who disclosed that the state was
practically set to implement the programmes having sent the list of
facilitators to Abuja for due approval, identified areas of
collaboration with UNICEF to include child survival, including maternal
child health, water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition as well as
quality basic education schemes.
Delta State has also benefited immensely
from UNICEF support in ensuring child protection aimed at reducing and
responding to exploitation, abuse and violence against the child, the
permanent secretary said.
While commending the agency for its
involvement in the training of the facilitators of Delta State’s
Homegrown School Feeding Programme and the Cash Transfers Programme of
the Federal Government, Igo noted that UNICEF has “cooperated with the
state government in the formulation and implementation of social
policies that strengthen Safety Nets vis-Ã -vis Emergency Readiness.”
He urged the trainees – made up of
senior officials drawn from relevant state ministries, departments and
agencies as well as political appointees, the civil society and
non-governmental groups – to take the training seriously, adding that it
would strengthen existing relations with UNICEF in communication and
development, which support media, private sector, children and families
as well as community organisations.
“This is an opportunity for all of us to
learn more about the programmes”, Igo said, adding, “We must pay
necessary attention and brace up for the challenges of implementing the
programmes successfully, because the state government has put a lot in
place, including personnel in the 25 local government areas, in
readiness for this.”
Worthwhile Goal
Earlier, the Social Protection
Specialist, UNICEF Rivers Field Office, Dr. Annie Maurice Ekanem,
stressed that the goal of the training programme included a proper
articulation of design/planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation
as well as documentation of the entire process, which would provide the
basis for determining its overall success and sustenance.
The Executive Director of the state
medium and micro-credit enterprises agency, Mrs. Shimite Bello, was
represented by the coordinator/manager, Delta State Homegrown School
Feeding Programme, Mr. Eddy Nwamaka; while the Senior Special Adviser to
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Child Rights Advocacy, Barrister Bridget
Anyafulu, and the UNICEF Focal Person in the state ministry of Economic
Planning, Mrs. Millicent Amitaye were among participants at the two-day
training workshop.
The fact that the state government had
decided to augment the huge financial outlay of the school feeding
programme underlines the passion Governor Okowa has for human capital
development and especially beginning with child rights, Anyafulu told
THISDAY.
However, the high-point of the two-day
training were the group discussions and demonstration intended to deepen
the participants’ understanding of the various dimensions and practical
or field issues in the implementation of school feeding and Cash
Transfer programmes, preparatory to their takeoff in Delta State.
Executive Commitment
The Nigerian Government is committing
N500 billion World Bank loan into the implementation of the Social
Protection policy through the Homegrown School Feeding Programme and the
Cash Transfers scheme in the different states.
The Delta State Government has made
elaborate plans preparations for the takeoff of the programmes in the
state with the State ministries of Health, Agriculture and Basic and
Secondary Education serving as pivot for the implementation of the
Homegrown School Feeding Programme in the state. That is a worthwhile
goal.
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