Anambra State government has said its Social Protection Policy would be ready for implementation in January, 2023.
Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Ms. Chiamaka Nnake disclosed this in Awka during a one-day stakeholders’ meeting on the ‘validation of draft Anambra State Social Protection Policy document’ in partnership with Africa Network For Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ),
The Social Protection Policy is a government programme intended to assist individuals and societies to manage risk and volatility, protect them from poverty and inequality and help them to access economic opportunities.
According to Nnake, the workshop was targeted at rallying support and inputs from various stakeholders involved in social protection to ensure robust, holistic and implementable policy.
She said, “The policy was approved at the National level sometimes last month. This is a draft we’re trying to domesticate to reflect Anambra situation using social protection policy which the ministry has come up with.
“We expect that the policy will be a true reflection of all relevant stakeholders in the state. As soon as we’re done, we’ll transmit it to the executive for approval. We expect it to be ready by second week of January.
“We still have windows after today to take as much as feed backs. We want it to be holistic and true reflection of the minds of the people to social protection issues in the state.”
Earlier, Deputy Executive Director, Africa Network For Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Mr. Leo Atakpu said the project was the organisation’s contribution to support government efforts in five states in tackling poverty in Nigeria.
“For us in ANEEJ, it’s a wake up call for all tiers of governments in Nigeria to take deliberate steps by putting the right policies in place to address poverty crisis at the national and sub-national levels.
“Blame trading by various tiers of governments will certainly not help. Other stakeholders such as the private sector and civil society must also play some key roles in addressing the poverty crisis.”
Atakpu commended the state government and key stakeholders’ efforts in packaging the policy, expressing optimism that the meeting would produce final document to be signed by the Governor in the interest of the poor and vulnerable.
