A
report compiled by the Ministry of Finance has shown that only eight
Nigerian states have captured their poor and vulnerable on the Federal
Government’s Single Register database.
Illustrative photos of vulnerable and poor Nigerians
Only eight states have captured their poor and vulnerable on the
Federal Government’s Single Register database, a report compiled by the
Ministry of Finance has shown.
The 2016 report entitled “Targeting the Poor and Vulnerable in Nigeria: Use of a Single Register” reveals that the states are Bauchi, Cross River, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Osun and Oyo.
According to the report, the data was collected by the Youth
Employment and Social Support Operations (YESSO) unit of the Federal
Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the World Bank.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that in 2013, the World Bank
provided $300 million grant to YESSO to compile a nationwide Single
Register targeting the poor and vulnerable in the society.
The register is meant to be the basis for selecting beneficiaries
for targeted intervention programmes such as public workfare, skills for
job and conditional cash transfers.
So far, the register has a total of 1,435 communities and 35,561
households made up of 190,235 individuals from eight states alone.
In the report, the indices to determine the poor and vulnerable include "unable to eat properly’’, "always in tattered clothes","unable to send children to school" and "live in poor housing units."
The programme uses a combination of targeting methods, including
geographical targeting, community-based targeting and the application of
a "proxy means test."
The report showed that in gathering the data, the six poorest local
government areas in each state were identified and once there, the poor
and vulnerable were identified through community gatherings.
An official from the Federal Ministry of Finance, who pleaded
anonymity, revealed the present administration’s intention to use the
Single Register to source for the beneficiaries of its N5,000 cash
transfer scheme.
“Social investment is a big deal for the current
administration, which is why it has budgeted N500 billion for social
welfare in the 2016 budget.
“Using the Single Register, it plans to reach one million
youths, poor and vulnerable; so, getting the register right is very
important.
“However, most states have not indicated interest for the
database to be compiled for them, and since we are operating a
federalist government, their invitation in necessary,” the source said.
On the setback for the nationwide compilation, the source said that
many states lacked the political will to let the process to be free and
fair.
“In this exercise, from the governor down to the village chief,
they have agenda. They want to hand us a list and we are expected to
compute the names.
“On several occasions, a leader will not allow us to carry out
our research because he wants to control the outcome. And, because we
are determined to do the right thing, the work has been very slow,” the source said.
He also revealed the present administration’s plan to transfer
YESSO and its Single Register of poor and vulnerable to the Office of
the Vice President for effective monitoring.
The source added that YESSO would also work with the National
Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office, directly supervised by the
office of the Vice President.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
0 comments:
Post a Comment