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Tag: NG-CARES

  • NG-CARES impacts 1.2m people in Delta -Oborevwori

    NG-CARES impacts 1.2m people in Delta -Oborevwori

    Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta says no fewer than 1.2 million persons have indirectly been impacted by the Nigeria Community Action Resilience and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) in the state.

    Oborevwori made the disclosure on Tuesday at the NG-CARES, ‘South -South Independent Verification Agents (IVA) Performance Review Meeting’ in Asaba.

    Available data indicated that the Federal Cares Support Unit (FCSU)- NG-CARES, a World Bank Supported programme, has impacted no fewer than 17 million people nationally since inception in 2021.

    The day’s event had participants drawn from the South-South states of Rivers, Edo, Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Delta.

    The governor represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Kingsley Emu, thanked the World Bank, Federal Government and other key stakeholders for the initiative that had greatly impacted the people of the state.

    According to him, the NG-CARES Programme was initially conceived as an emergency intervention to support state governments in addressing the socio-economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “However, this initiative has since demonstrated its effectiveness as a robust platform for addressing broader economic shocks and its impact in Delta especially cannot be overemphasized.

    “As one of our flagship programmes, the NG-CARES has significantly impacted on the lives of our residents especially in the areas of poverty reduction, economic growth and social development.

    “We are glad to state that in Delta we have impacted 306,177 direct beneficiaries and more than 1.2 million indirect beneficiaries thus far.

    “We are looking forward to increasing the numbers and strengthening the intervention horizontally and vertically as we proceed to the next phase of NG-CARES 2.0.”

    Oborevwori noted that the IVA performance review was critical to defining the next phase of the programme which was geared towards addressing the needs of most vulnerable  in local communities through social infrastructure.

    “A key feature of this next phase is the community action approach, which empowers communities to drive the programme from the ground up.

    “This ensures that interventions meet the real needs of local people, the most vulnerable are reached, and communities take ownership of projects like building and rehabilitating social infrastructure.

    “Also by putting communities at the heart of planning and implementation, NG-CARES will deliver deeper impact, stronger accountability, and more sustainable development at the grassroots level,” he said.

    He added that the IVA played crucial role in intervention programmes by providing unbiased and objective assessment of programmes.

    “So, evaluating the effectiveness, credibility and impact of the Independent Verification Agents under NG-CARES1.0 will be a welcome development,” Oborevwori said.

    He lauded the World Bank partnership for adding to the state’s successes, saying that the programme aligned perfectly with the M.O.R.E Agenda of his administration, which was focused on creating opportunities for all and enhancing social services.

    “Our commitment to social welfare, as a key pillar of the M.O.R.E Agenda, is evident in several landmark initiatives. Recently, we launched the Widows’ Welfare Scheme, which provides financial and healthcare support to 10,000 widows across the state,” he added.

    In his remarks, the World Bank Task Team Leader, Dr Lire Ersado, said that about 700 million Dollars was the support by World Bank for the programme nationally, while the states have spent about 2.2 billion dollars nationally for the programme.

    He said that the states were financing the programmes on their own in partnership with the World Bank, adding that Delta was putting much more resources to finance the programme.

    He noted that the reason for the IVA review was to ensure that the programme reached out to the right beneficiaries in the states, adding that verification outcome would determine the launch to level 2.0 of the programme.

    “The performance review is to see if we have the right partners and that whatever services we are providing is having the right impact on the right people,” Ersado said.

    He charged the participants to speak out and to provide all necessary evidence that would help at the all stakeholders meeting holding in Abuja.

    In their separate remarks, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Abubakar Bagudu and the National Coordinator, NG-CARES Programme, Dr Abdulkarim Obaje, represented, tasked stakeholders to evaluate justify and ensure the objectives of NG-CARES are realised.

    The Coordinator of the Programme in Delta, Dr Patience Ogbewe, in her opening remarks said the review process was also taking place in Nasaraw and Kebbi states simultaneously.

    She urged the stakeholders to engage constructively, adding that four rounds of assessments had been conducted on the programme.

  • NG-CARES commends Gov. Ugwuanyi over transparency, and resource management

    Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwanyi of Enugu State, has been commended by the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus(NG-CARES) over his management of public resources.

    NG-CARES is the Federal Government body, saddled with the responsibility of expanding access to livelihood support and food security services and grants for poor and vulnerable households and firms.

    The body commended Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration for observing due process in the management of resources and other administrative engagements.

    They also praised Ugwuanyi for enthroning prudence, probity and accountability in the state.

    The group gave the commendation when the Management Team of NG-CARES paid an advocacy visit to Gov. Ugwuanyi at the Government House, Enugu.

    Addressing newsmen, the National Coordinator of NG-CARES, Dr Abdulkarim Obaje, disclosed that they were impressed with what they observed in Enugu State in terms of due process and prudent management of public resources by the government.

    He said the group was impressed by the government’s commitment to the success of its programme in the state.

    Obaje explained that the NG-CARES programme “is a 750 million dollars credit facility from the World Bank to cushion the negative impact of COVID-19 on the poor and the vulnerable in Nigeria”.

    He added that all the 36 states of the federation were participating in the programme, disclosing that “each state is entitled to N20 million dollars at the end of the programme in June 2023″.

    On the outcome of their meeting with the State EXCO, NG-CARES National Coordinator disclosed that the EXCO had given approval for the budget implementation and had also empowered the Chairman of the State-Cares Steering Committee.

    Others are the Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mrs Adaonah Kene-Uyanwune, to continue to paddle the boat of NG-CARES in the state without necessarily resorting to the EXCO.

    Describing the EXCO’s approval as “spectacular”, Obaje pointed out that it would  fast track the activities of the body.

    “We want to commend His Excellency (Ugwuanyi) and of course the State Executive Council (EXCO) for the quality of prudence in management of public resources which we witnessed during this visit.”

    “We are very impressed to note that funds are released only after State EXCO has deliberated on it, and there is due process.

    “The World Bank is an institution that respects due diligence in management of resources and we saw that exemplified in Enugu State.

    “This is going into our records as one of the best practices in management of resources. The process put in place here in Enugu is commendable and we must put that in our records.

    “We are also impressed with the quality of understanding of the processes involved in NG-CARES implementation in Enugu State.

    “This emboldens the Chairman of the State-Cares Steering Committee, Mrs. Adaonah Kene-Uyanwune.

    “She is here and we are really impressed with the knowledge she has exhibited and her leadership style.”

    Obaje expressed confidence that Enugu would be one of the states in Nigeria that would have the highest amount of resources from the World Bank through the Federal Government.

    “As far as World Bank portfolios under Enugu State is concerned, the finances of Enugu State is in safe hands and we are very comfortable with the process that has been put in place”.

    Earlier, NG-CARES Team Leader, Dr Martina Nwordu, explained that the delegation was in Enugu on advocacy visit to evaluate what the state government had done so far on the programme.

    He said the visit would encourage it to do more towards the full actualisation of the set objectives of the programme.

    She stated that the programme was aimed at impacting the lives of the poor and the vulnerable, positively.

    On the outcome of their deliberations with Gov. Ugwuanyi and members of the State EXCO, Dr Nwordu said: “We are absolutely impressed because this is the first time it is happening.

    “EXCO gave approvals to the Chairman of the State-CARES Steering Committee on delivery platforms, and this is a very big achievement for Enugu State as regards this programme”.