Humanitarian minister imposes maximum social protection on ECOWAS members
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Dr. Beta Edu, Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, called for the member states of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) to work towards achieving maximum social protection in the region.
Edu chairs the ECOWAS Inter-Ministerial Committee on Social Protection.
Speaking in Banjul, the capital of the Republic of the Gambia, at the closing session of the hybrid ministerial meeting to adopt the ECOWAS Community Social Protection Framework and Operational Plan, she said that the adoption of the social protection framework by Member States will: Ta. And full implementation was the key to overcoming West Africa’s humanitarian and poverty problems.
She said the conference was important and noteworthy as it was expected to grow the great work and long-term commitment of the ECOWAS Commission with the support of partners in the birth of social protection systems in sub-regions. said it was worth it.
The Minister, who substantively chaired the event, declared: “Social protection is a fundamental human right and should not be considered a privilege.
“It is a social and economic necessity, a proven stabilizer during crises and shocks, and should be provided throughout its lifecycle.”
Dr. Edu noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed significant disparities in social protection around the world, particularly in West Africa, which has one of the lowest levels of social protection on the continent. did.
The records she uncovered show that the ECOWAS region has the lowest social protection coverage on the continent, with an average of around 17% of the population receiving at least one form of social protection benefit.
He added that spending is similarly low, as studies have shown that only 1% of member states’ GDP is spent on social security benefits.
However, the Minister said Member States have made great strides towards addressing social protection issues at the national level by developing policies and structures/programmes to change the narrative, citing Nigeria as an example. I admitted that there was.
“Nigeria currently has the highest level of social protection intervention in place, reaching 15 million households and 61 million people through conditional cash transfers.
“This is the first time we have reported on such a large scale, and the first time that President Bola Tinubu, who is also the President of ECOWAS, is reporting in Africa and is demonstrating leadership in social protection in the region.
“Additionally, a national policy on social protection has been developed in Nigeria and other supporting policies to facilitate its operation, such as cash and voucher support policy in a humanitarian context, have been developed as well to ensure that stakeholders in Nigeria Provide cash remittance assistance to relevant parties in a humane environment.
“Also in terms of structure, under the supervision of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, we will provide various social protection assistance to different categories of Nigeria’s population to lift millions out of poverty through various social investment and intervention programmes. There are several institutions and sub-national institutions dedicated to ‘and poverty alleviation.
“All interventions, including humanitarian interventions, are now being redesigned through the lens of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus to ensure sustainable responses.
“Most importantly, the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund was similarly approved by the Federal Executive Committee to ensure the mobilization of resources for social protection interventions,” she said.
Dr Edu, who told the audience that now is the time for action, said the West African Social Protection Framework aims to provide broad guidelines and principles to ECOWAS and Member States in the design and delivery of social protection. he emphasized. intervention.
She expressed the view that this initiative is driven by the principle that the provision of comprehensive and appropriate social protection contributes to improving the quality of life of the population.
“Given that the region is exposed to a wide range of covariate shocks and common socio-economic challenges across borders, this framework aims to improve existing social protection systems through a more coherent and effective approach. and aims to foster higher levels of regional cooperation to scale up programs to end hunger, towards poverty reduction (SDG 1) and the eradication of food and nutrition security (SDG 2). ” Edu emphasized.
According to the Nigerian Minister, this framework will contribute to the achievement of several SDG goals related to social protection, in particular SDG goal 1.3, which aims to implement nationally adequate social protection systems and measures for all. It is something.
Also speaking at the closing ceremony of the ECOWAS Regional Meeting, Gambia’s Vice President Mohammad Jarrow praised Member States’ commitment to social protection in the region.
“This framework aims to address endemic issues such as financing, insurance coverage, climate risks, and informality in the economy, among others.
“One of the fundamental challenges in our region is that project-based social protection is ad hoc and unpredictable. As a region, we are moving to integrate social protection into our annual budget. Must be.
“Earlier this month, Gambia hosted the International Social Protection Conference on the theme ‘Accelerating Social Protection Financing to Expand Coverage and Reach’.
“I am particularly pleased that experts have a similar goal of improving fiscal space for comprehensive and inclusive social protection,” he added.
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Source: dailypost.ng