David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
The federal government, through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, yesterday said it distributed N56million to 2,800 indigent women, including widows, the vulnerable and the disabled in Anambra State.
Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, flagged off the ceremony at the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre in Awka, the state capital, yesterday.
She stated that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has paid more attention to the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country despite the economic slump and glaring revenue challenges.
Faruok said it is because poverty reduction has become a major objective of governments all over the world, adding that this informed the decision by President Buhari to initiate the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) as a strategy to reduce poverty and enhance social inclusion.
The minister said the grant for rural women programme was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari’s administration, insisting that it is consistent with the president’s new national vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
Faruok, who was represented at the even by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Bashir Nura Alkali, said: “It is designed to provide a one-off grant to some of the poorest and most vulnerable women in rural and semi-urban areas in the country.
“A cash grant of N20,000 will be disbursed to about 125,000 poor women across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Our target in Anambra State is to disburse the grant to about 2,800 beneficiaries across all local government areas. The grant is expected to increase income and productive assets of the target beneficiaries.
“It is our hope that the beneficiaries of this programme will make good use of the grant to generally contribute towards improving their living standards,” Farouk said.
