EU DEMANDS SOCIAL REGISTER TO TACKLE MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY IN NIG

REPORTER: PEACE AGBO

The European Union says less privileged Nigerians are yet to be captured on her social register to ascertain number of persons needed to benefit from her humanitarian services.

A delegation of European Union with its Development Partners from UNICEF and International Labour Organization, who was led by the Programme Manager for Social Protection European Union, Miss Chioma Osuji, announced this during a visit to Governor Alex Otti of Abia state.

She said the whole process would be digitized to tackle the multidimensional poverty rate in Nigeria.

Miss Osuji said the agencies were in Abia to partner the state in strengthen its social protection system by coming up with a reliable social register that would serve as a guide in providing the necessary support to addressing the multidimensional poverty rate in the state.

Responding, Governor Alex Otti said his administration was working hard to reduce the state’s poverty rate below 30% in the next one year in spite of the growing population.

Governor Otti decried the absence of reliable database for social programme in the state and thanked the team for considering Abia as one of the four states selected for the project.

Earlier in a separate remarks, the Social Policy Specialist UNICEF, Nigeria, Mr. Segun Tekun and the Senior Programme Officer, International Labor Organization (ILO), Mrs. Chinyere Emeka- Anuma, explained that the various agencies were working with the EU to meet with stakeholders in various sectors of the state to enable them to know their areas of interest and what the team could bring to the table.

Abia State is among the four states selected to benefit from the grant fully funded by the European Union to build responsive and reliable social register for seamless planning and implementation of social support and other interventionist projects.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU