Kaduna State is witnessing increasing demand for data of poor and venerable persons due to the robust social register generated by the state government towards addressing poverty.
The Coordinator, State Coordinating Operations Unit SOCU, Mrs. Nina Dawung stated this at a one day policy dialogue on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty organized with support of Save the Children International Kaduna.
She explained that more Ministries , Departments and Agencies have been approaching the office to get list of poor and vulnerable people for effective implementation of social protection programmes under their domain.
According to her, about 1.5 million individuals are benefiting from the poverty intervention programmes of the state government out of the about 3 million individuals already captured in the state social register.
Earlier, Chairperson Kaduna Social Protection Accountability Coalition KADSPAC Ms. Jessica Bartholomew urged government to put in place adequate and necessary mechanism to curtail the skyrocketing poverty causing havoc in many homes across the country and Kaduna State in particular.
She quoted the National Bureau of Statistics which indicates that Kaduna state is the third most populous state in Nigeria and that 43.5% of the residents are living below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day.
According to Jessica, addressing poverty will largely solved the problem of out of school children, health care services, criminal activities, infant and child mortality rate in the country.
She however submitted that ending persistent poverty in Nigeria and in Kaduna state particularly requires collective effort of both government and all citizens to drive the process.
Ms Jessica Batholomew emphasised that the KADSPAC, and partners are championing the campaign tagged, “Social Protection to End Poverty to ensure increased coverage, transparency, and accountability of social protection programmes in Nigeria.
Cover/Shindong Bala