Conditional Cash Transfer: 1.9 million Nigerians have been registered-Minister

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq has revealed that more than 1.9 million poor and vulnerable households in Nigeria have so far been registered under its Household Uplifting Programme-Conditional Cash Transfer (HUP-CCT).

The Minister also said that N58 billion has been disbursed to beneficiaries of the programme across the country within the last 2 months as backlog across implementing states and the FCT.

She disclosed this at the closing of a 2-day stepdown training on programme orientation and implementation refresher training for Cash Transfer Facilitators held on Saturday in Yola, Adamawa state.

The Minister who was represented by Hajiya Halima Shehu, National Programme Coordinator, National Cash Transfer Office, said the training is in preparation for the enrolment of additional 23,134 poor and vulnerable households in the state.

She said, “The National Cash transfer Office, since its inception in 2016, has enrolled over 1.9 million poor and vulnerable households in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The beneficiaries were captured in the National Beneficiary Register (NBR) under the Household Uplifting Programme-Conditional Cash Transfer (HUP-CCT).’’

The minister explained that the programme was initiated by the federal government in partnership with the World Bank in order to reduce poverty trend, especially among women and the vulnerable.

Farouq said that one of the core objectives of the programme was to help move the poor out of poverty in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

Recall that in March 2020, the Federal Government commenced immediate payment of conditional cash transfer funds to the poorest and most vulnerable households in the country.

Due to the impact of the lockdown on the finances of many income earners, the category of vulnerable groups was also expanded to accommodate more persons.

The National Cash Transfer Office which coordinates the programme, is an arm of National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs) under her Ministry.

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