According to Dr Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the federal government of Nigeria plans to reach no less than fifteen million families through its upgraded social safety net programme known as “Conditional Cash Transfer” CCT.
The Minister stated this when she visited with Mr. Shubham Chaudhuri, Country Director of the World Bank, at the bank’s offices in Abuja. She thanked the World Bank Country Director for the ongoing assistance provided to Nigeria, particularly in the areas of education, health, agriculture, private sector growth, and social services, among others.
Edu reminded the World Bank team of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, which resulted in the rebranding of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to directly focus on the people and raise 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.
Speaking during the visit, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, Country Director of the World Bank, vowed to offer all necessary support for the incoming Minister to execute on the Ministry’s new objective.
The proposed disbursement of $800M 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.