Tag: Betta Edu

 

By Biola Lawal

(Flowerbudnews): The Chairman of ECOWAS Inter-ministerial Committee On Social Protection, Dr. Betta Edu has enjoined Member States to address Humanitarian And Poverty Challenges In West Africa using newly adopted regional social protection framework.

Dr. Edu, who is Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation
also called for private sectors and development partners involvement in the regional effort s to eradicate poverty, saying, ” time for action is now’.

Dr. Edu was speaking in Banjul, the Capital of the Republic of Gambia, during the closing session of the hybrid inter-ministerial meeting to adopt the ECOWAS regional social protection framework and operational plan, her Special. Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rasheed Olanrewsju Zubair disclosed in a statement.

The Minister emphasised the imperativeness of member countries of the Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS to work towards achieving maximum social protection in the sub-region.

Dr. Edu told the session that the adoption of the social protection framework by member countries and full implementation was key to overcoming humanitarian and poverty challenges in West Africa.

Describing the meeting as crucial and remarkable as it is expected to grow the great initiatives and long-term efforts of the ECOWAS Commission with the support of partners in birthing the social protection instruments in the sub-sub-region, Minister who chaired the event virtually argued that;

“Social Protection is a fundamental human right and should not be regarded as a privilege. It is a social and economic necessity that has proven to be a stabilizer in times of crises and shock, and it is meant to be provided throughout life circle”

Dr. Edu pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the yawning gaps in the social protection of the world, particularly in the West African sub-region, which has one of the lowest social protections in the continent.

Records, she disclosed, have shown that the coverage of Social Protection in the ECOWAS region is the lowest in the continent with an average of about 17% of the population receiving at least one form of social protection benefits and spending is equally low as studies show that as little as 1% of the GDP of member States is spent on social protection benefits apart from health considered a far cry in comparison to international standards which should not be acceptable in West Africa.

Citing Nigeria as an example, the Minister, however, acknowledged that member states were making giant strides towards addressing issues of social protection at the national level by developing policies and structures/programs to change the narratives. Nigeria is presently implementing one of the highest social protection interventions that covers 15 million households and, by extension, 61 million individuals through conditional cash transfers. This is the first of this magnitude and coverage in Africa by President Bola Tinubu, who is also the Chairman of ECOWAS, showing leadership in social protection within the region.

“Furthermore Nigeria has a National Policy on Social Protection developed and other ancillary policies that will facilitate its operationalization, like the Cash and Voucher Assistance policy in Humanitarian context have equally been developed to guide actors in providing cash transfer assistance to the persons of concern in humanitarian setting.

“Also in terms of structures, we have Several Agencies and parastatals dedicated to providing various social protection assistance to different categories of the population of Nigeria to lift millions out of poverty through different Social Investment and intervention programs under the watch of the ministry of humanitarian Affairs and poverty alleviation.

“All interventions including humanitarian interventions are now redesigned through the lenses of the Humanitarian- Development-Peace nexus to ensure sustainable response.

“Most importantly, a Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund has equally been approved by the Federal Executive Council to ensure the mobilization of resources for social protection interventions,” she said.

Dr. Edu who told the audience that the time for action is now, stressed that the Social Protection Framework for West Africa was intended to provide a broad set of guidelines and principles to ECOWAS and the Member States in the design and delivery of social protection interventions.

She was of the view that the effort was driven by the principle that the provision of comprehensive and adequate social protection would contribute to the improvement in the quality of life of the citizenry.

“In the light of the region’s exposure to a wide range of covariate shocks and common cross-border socio-economic challenges, the Framework aims at fostering higher levels of regional collaboration to broaden existing social protection systems and programs through a more coherent and effective approach to poverty reduction (SDG 1) and food and nutrition insecurity eradication (SDG 2) END HUNGER”, Dr. Edu emphasized.

The Framework, according to the Nigerian Minister, contributes to the achievement of several social protection-related SDG targets, especially SDG target 1.3, which seeks to implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all.

Also, speaking at the Closing Ceremony of the ECOWAS Regional Session, the Vice President of the Gambia, Muhammad Jallow, commended the commitment of the member states to social protection in the region.

“The framework seeks to address endemic issues such as financing, coverage, climate risk, and informality in our economies amongst others.

“One of the fundamental challenges in our region is that project-based social protection is ad hoc and unpredictable. As a region, we must move to mainstream social protection into our annual budgets.

“The Gambia hosted an international Social Protection conference earlier this month on the theme “Accelerating Financing for Social Protection to Increase Coverage and Reach. ”

“I am particularly pleased to note that the experts have dedicated a similar objective to “ Improve fiscal space for comprehensive and inclusive social protection, ” he added.

The Closing Ceremony was attended by ministers in charge of social protection in eleven countries and the Nigeria Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, who is the Chairman. (Flowerbudnews)

 

By Biola Lawal

Abuja ( Flowerbudnews): The Canadian Government has expressed readiness to assist in the realisation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by supporting the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation response in Nigeria.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jamie Christoff, made this known when he led his team to visit the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu at her office in Abuja.

This was disclosed in a statement by Rasheed Olanrewsju Zubair, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Honourable Minister, a copy of which was made available to Flowerbudnews on Tuesday.

Ambassador Christoff said the Canadian Government has committed to put in One Hundred and Fifty-Two Million Dollars as part of their assistance to the country for various programmes. However, a small portion has been earmarked for humanitarian response, he said.

The Canadian Envoy  said that some of the general funds will be spent in Nigeria to focus on vulnerable women and young girls across the country.

The ambassador lauded the establishment of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund, saying it is a welcome development that will aid in better coordination with the government in the driver’s seat. He noted that it would be of interest to the Canadian government.

“I am here with my team to register our support to the mandate of the President in his efforts to alleviate poverty and reduce humanitarian crises in Nigeria through your ministry,” he said.

Responding, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, while commending the High Commissioner for finding time out of his busy schedule to visit her and kind words on President Tinubu’s Initiative, assured him of a mutual working relationship.

Edu informed the High Commissioner of the determination of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to significantly tackle multi-dimensional poverty and humanitarian crises in Nigeria by 2030 in line with the SDG target.

She assured the visiting Envoy that the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund will be used to address emergency humanitarian responses and issues of poverty alleviation in Nigeria, saying its application will be in a transparent manner.

The Minister asked the High Commissioner and all other Humanitarian Responders to re-evaluate their contributions to Nigeria and work towards providing durable solutions to ‘our country’.

She advocated for a radical change in the approach of partner implementation, to enable the people who need help the most truly get it with less duplication and wastage. (Flowerbudnews)

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Rasheed Olanrewsju Zubair,  Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Honourable Minister

 

By Biola Lawal
Gusau: (Flowerbudnews): Emotions ran high when the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, met with the rescued students of the Federal University Gusau, assuring that the Ministry would offer immediate humanitarian response to their recovery process.

This was disclosed in a statement by Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Honourable Minister,  a copy of which was made available to Flowerbudnews.

Dare-devil bandits had recently struck at the University and kidnapped twenty five (25) female students in their hostels.

However, sixteen of them have been rescued by security forces.

Speaking when she took the message of Renewed Hope to the Management and Students of the Federal University of Gusau, in company of the Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, the Minister said President Ahmed Bola Tinubu was concerned by the unfortunate incident adding that he would ensure the safe return of the remaining students.

Edu who personally interacted with some of the rescued students one after the other, said both Federal and State government are working together to improve Security in Zamfara State in particular and Northwest in general.

According to her, “I bring you the assurance of the President, that those remaining students will be back. The President has put in place a security architecture in collaboration with Zamfara State government that will safeguards lives and property.

She said one of the eight-point agenda of President Tinubu and indeed the primary agenda of government is Security and the welfare of its people.

“I want to assure you that our children, our students will come back home and get back to school to continue their education.”

“The President has assured us of improved security across the country to reduce humanitarian crises and eradicate multi-dimensional poverty, we hope that very soon, the remaining nine students in captivity will soon be released.

“For the students, do not be deterred by the incident and continue to pursue your education, where necessary, we will ensure their full rehabilitate and reintegration to enable them continue their studies. Our President believes in Education, he has made provision for Student Loans and Scholarships to assist the education of young people.

On his part, Governor Lawal commended Dr. Edu for taking the pains “to visit us over the ugly incident that happened 10 days ago.”

The Governor assured that the State Government will continue in its efforts to work with the Federal Government to create a conducive learning environment and will also do its best to protect the lives and properties of the people which is the primary function of government.

Lawal who said Zamfara Needs help from the federal government, said the coming of the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Minister was an indication of a better collaboration from the federal government led by President Tinubu.

The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Gusau, Professor Muazu Abubakar Gusau, said the management of the university was delighted to receive the Minister at this trying time.

Professor Gusau, recounted the ordeals the institution has encountered in the hands of bandits in times past even before this administration and called for increased security for the institution.

The VC appealed to Dr. Edu to factor in the University in her Ministry’s several intervention schemes.

The institution Student Union Representatives led by Comrade Bello Aliyu, Commended the Minister for visiting them in their trying period, asking that the students should be accommodated in the National Social Investment Programmes of the Federal government.

The victims of the incident also met with the Minister who is supporting them directly and will provide for some psychosocial therapy to help with quick recovery and reintegration. (Flowerbudnews)