The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has on Wednesday handed over 40 operational vehicles of the state COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme CARES Coordinating Unit to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning for state use across the country.
The State Cares Coordinating Unit (SCCU) operates under the Nigeria Covid-19 Action recovery and economic stimulus package set up to help cushion the effects of the covid-19 pandemic in all the states of the federation.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Faruk while expressing her delight at the handing over task revealed that the project was possible due to the loan which the country received from the World Bank. ‘the World Bank has initiated a grant to cushion the effects of covid-19 in the poor and vulnerable and some of the businesses in Nigeria”.
She expressed hope that the vehicles would “go a long way in assisting the state coordinators of the program in carrying out the herculean of alleviating the suffering of ordinary people in the country”.
Receiving the vehicles, the Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba remarked that the Nigeria Covid-19 Actions Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N-Cares) program is a “multi-sectoral programme designed to provide immediate emergency relief to the vulnerable and poor Nigerians smallholder Farmers and SME operators that were adversely affected by the covid-19 pandemic using a World Bank seven hundred and fifty million dollar loan over a period of two years. (2021-2023)”.
He said the programme is an emergency one to be driven and implemented by the 36 states and the FCT “using the program for results (PforR) delivery mechanism within three results areas that have options of 11 Disbursement Linked Indicators(DLI) at the state level with some technical support coming through the Federal CARES Support Unit(FCSU) to provide support to the states.
Mr Agba stated that the intervention allocation to each state is “twenty million dollars and fifteen million dollars to the FCT while fifteen million dollars is for the Federal CARES Support Unit (FCSU).”
He added that the effective date for the N-Cares programme is 30th June 2021.
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