Finance Minister to host National Social Protection Policy enlightenment webinar
The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in conjunction with other international development partners is set to host an enlightenment webinar session billed to enable stakeholders to effectively understand the provisions of the National Social Protection Policy and make their input in the planned process for its review.
Schedule to hold tomorrow, the webinar is designed to sensitise the public on the policy and its relevance to them. As part of stakeholder engagement, the general public is considered a major stakeholder and the webinar will serve as a buildup to further planned consultations with the ministries and their development partners.
Speaking on the objective of the webinar, the Permanent Secretary, Minister of Budget and National Planning, who also doubles as the Chairperson of the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the review of the policy, Mrs Olusola Idowu, said: “This webinar will help the public understand the key aspects of the policy for better ownership and how to benefit from government’s intervention efforts in providing social safety nets for its citizens”.
Attendance at the webinar she added, “is free to the public and is to be conducted virtually via Zoom, Youtube and Facebook Live.”
According to the stakeholder engagement consultant, Dr Tunji Olugbodi, this webinar will really open the eyes of Nigerians to what social protection is and is a very key activity that has to be undertaken as part of the buildup to the institutionalization of the policy.
His words, “This webinar will serve as a window of opportunities, to encourage buy-in from stakeholders generally and more importantly, to also serve as an avenue by the public to ventilate opinions in achieving a robust National Social Protection Policy and program for the country”. The stakeholder consultations, which have been held in all the six geo-political regions of the country, continues with other high-level interest groups and other stakeholders.”
The webinar will have in attendance, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning, Ms Olusola Idowu, (keynote speaker); Ms Sheila Nkunika, Senior Program Specialist, Save The Children; Dr Bandara Amarakoon – Economic Adviser, UNDP Nigeria; Mr Hamidou Poufon, Chief of Policy, UNICEF Nigeria, and Mr Francesco Tisei, Social Protection Advisor, WFP Nigeria.
Others are Mr Iorwa Apera, Chief of Policy, National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO); Mr Omotayo Adeyemi, Director, Social Development, MFBNP; Dr Sanjo Faniran, Deputy Director, Social Development, MFBNP and Dr Tunji Olugbodi, Consultant on stakeholder engagement who will be the anchor and moderator.
The session will hold virtually in adherence to COVID-19 guidelines. Individuals and other interest groups can join in on the Zoom call on the day of the event or register to attend. Further information about the review of the policy can be gotten from the social platforms being used to sensitise the public about the review process.
Suzan O/ NAN
