From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government said it has lifted over 10 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty in six years, through the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs).
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, disclosed this yesterday at a virtual launch of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey.
Umar Farouq explained that Nigeria has joined many countries that have moved towards improving the efficiency of their decision-making processes through the evidence generated by MPI.
In a statement by her Special Adviser on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, she said: “The consensus around the use of the MPI emerges from different approaches and global agreements, including the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs), which has been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to cover the multiple aspects of deprivation at the core of poverty and their inter-linkages.
“It is therefore an honour to join other strong voices to highlight the importance of multi-stakeholder engagements on poverty eradication, zero hunger, quality education, climate action and inclusion, all of which are central to the evidence generated by the MPI.
“The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has successfully empowered more than 10 million people out of extreme poverty through the many initiatives of Government, including the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), GEEP, Npower, NHGSFP and many more.
“This aspiration takes into cognizance the country’s current estimated population of about 200 million people, as well as the need for better evidence for programming.
“The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development therefore, stands ready to collaborate with different government agencies, donor organisations and private investors to shape policies and drive real impact in the use of MPI data to foster government accountability to citizens through improved multi-sectoral interventions targeted at the root of deprivations.
“In addition, the ministry will collaborate closely with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to conduct regular multidimensional poverty measurements alongside monetary measures at both national and sub-national levels to ascertain the true poverty status of Nigeria and use the findings to shape policy and programming.”
Umar Farouq noted that government would partner with private sector actors using the special purpose vehicle of social investments to create a national and state poverty map/tracker which will help provide progress towards poverty reduction goals.
“It will also collaborate with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning using MPI data to improve budget allocations by sector and State in order to target individuals, communities and areas needing dire attention,” she added.
She thanked the World Bank Group, UNDP, OPHI, UNICEF, the High Commission of Canada, and other bilateral and multi-lateral bodies, for their support towards eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.