Report by Shindong Bala; Editing by Basirat Memudu
Kaduna State Government is collaborating with an NGO, Innovation for Poverty Action(IPA) to alleviate poverty among women in 9 Local Government Areas of the state.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Social Investment Programs, Barrister Bridget Suleiman stated this at a 2-Day Graduation Programme Pre Design workshop for Rural Women in Kaduna.
She said the pre design graduation workshop was to engage stakeholders on social investment system across the various Ministries Agencies and Departments in the state.
Barrister Bridget Suleiman explained that the state governor, Uba Sani has been championing programs and projects to alleviate poverty and has done several interventions to that effect while the ongoing collaborative effort was designed to deliver evidence-based approaches towards attaining Sustainable Development Goal 1 which is to Eliminate poverty.
“The Kaduna State Government remains committed to providing the necessary policy support, facilitating partnerships, and ensuring that our social protection systems are data-driven, transparent, and impactful. I urge you to bring your insights, expertise, and commitment to the table at this workshop”.
Speaking on the theme: Designing an Inclusive and Sustainable Graduation Program for Women in Rural Communities, the program facilitator, Mr. Victor Ogharanduku urged Nigerian government to develop and implement policies geared to more equitable distribution of wealth income and Social protection coverage to eradicate poverty in the country.
Mr. Ogharanduku stated that the graduation model as a sequence of consumption support, skills enhancement, asset transfer, saving, and microfinance, with “graduation” into sustainable livelihoods as the end goal for the beneficiaries.
“Different interventions are tailored to each poverty band to ensure that the correct mix of tools is used to effectively graduate beneficiaries to a higher score on the poverty scorecard. It is not just about providing temporary relief but building resilience and long-term economic independence for women through a structured, data-driven approach.
“We are going to select women across 9 local government areas, train them in various empowerment skill programs and give them products and services over a period of 24 years to get them out of poverty”.
A participant from Kaduna Social Protection Accountability Coalition, Ms Alheri Waje commended the state government and the IPA for coming up with the program initiative describing it as a development that will improve means of doing business and livelihood of the people.
The Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is an American non-profit research and policy organization founded in 2002 with over 400 leading academics to conduct over 900 evaluations in 52 countries.