Nigeria’s Social Protection systems are exclusive—Expert
Nigeria’s Social Protection systems are exclusive—Expert
By: Femi Mustapha
A Social Protection Specialist with the Expanding Social Protection for Inclusive Development (ESPID) project, Mr. Victor Ogaranduku, has said Nigeria’s Social Protection systems are highly exclusive, hence the need for the Government to deepen them to improve the welfare of vulnerable Nigerians.
He asserted this during a 3-day capacity-building training for Civil Society Organizations, Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) service providers, Media, and Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) held in Kano yesterday, supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and implemented by Save the Children International (SCI).
Mr. Victor argued that deepening social protection would allow the government to provide a safety net for vulnerable individuals and communities within the country.
He added that if the system is inclusive as expected, more girls, women, and informal sectors will benefit from all the SP interventions.
The Social Protection Specialist observed that despite the importance given to social protection policies at both national and state levels, social protection coverage remained limited in Nigeria.
He, therefore, stressed the need to improve social protection in the country because more Nigerians were falling into extreme deprivation and vulnerability.
In her welcome address, the ESPID program Manager in Jigawa State, Stella Esedunme, opined that Gender-based violence (GBV) or violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a global pandemic that affects women in their lifetime.
Stella Esedunme added that about 35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence globally.
She, therefore, urged the participants to take advantage of the training to equip themselves with the latest information and methods in addressing the GBV issues, saying the training is part of measures to raise awareness of the high rate of sexual and gender-based violence.
Lawal Rabiu Tasfe, the Social Protection Specialist in Zamfara, said the objectives of the meeting include building the capacity of participants on GBV to further carry out sensitizations on GBV in communities and create an awareness of the availability of GBV service providers for survivors.
“The training will build the capacity to understand GBV, gender-focused SP, and the role of various stakeholders in mitigating GBV, including the role of SP intervention in reducing cases of GBV.
“The training will also position the stakeholders and CSO as a conduit between survivors and GBV service providers to ensure effective and efficient multi-sectoral services, delivery, and coordination of GBV service,” he said.
In her remarks, the Coordinator of the Kaduna Social Protection Coalition (KADSPAC), Jessica Bartholome, said the training is very timely.
She said it is important to raise awareness about sexual and gender-based violence among people who are downtrodden in society.
“The training is meant to sensitize the participants to understand the strategies to tackle sexual and gender-based violence.
“I appreciate SCI for this training, which is the right step to put an end to the issue of Gender-Based Violence.” She said.
