The Federal Government has inaugurated a Federal Cares Steering Committee ,FCSC, on the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus, NG-CARES, programme.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Atiku Bagudu, who inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Tuesday, urged the members to work as a team, as well disburse any undisbursed funds.
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The National Coordinator of NG-CARES, Mr Abdulkarim Obaje, said that the programme was a multi-sectoral programme designed to provide immediate relief to the vulnerable and poor Nigerians, small holder farmers and MSEs that were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that the Programme Development Objective, PDO, was to protect the livelihood and food security of poor and vulnerable families, and facilitate recovery of local economic activity in all participating states across the country.
Obaje said that the intervention also covered shocks like flooding, natural disasters, impact of economic policies that could trigger social unrest and worsening poverty among the poor and vulnerable.
He said that the programme was a three year programme but due to late commencement of the implementation across the state, the programme was restructured in May 2023.
Obaje added that the timeline was extended by 12 months with the closing date of June 30.
Also speaking, the World Bank Representative, Mr Lire Ersado, said that the programme had achieved a lot since implementation, adding that it had succeeded well in line with the federal government agenda.
He said, “It is a multi sectoral programme, the programme is flexible, it is also working for the needs of Nigeria.”
Ersado said that the world bank would continue to support the programme in all aspects.
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