EU, UNICEF, ILO hail Sokoto govt’s social protection programmes

The European Union (EU), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) have commended the Sokoto State Government for its efforts to strengthen social protection programmes and urged the State House of Assembly to improve oversight of budget implementation.

The EU Programme Manager on Social Protection in Nigeria, Chioma Osuji, gave the commendation during an engagement with members of the Sokoto State House of Assembly.

Osuji said the establishment of a social protection committee in the Assembly and the inclusion of social protection in the state budget were important steps towards sustaining interventions for poor and vulnerable residents.

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“For the first time, the State Assembly has helped to facilitate, and now we have not just a social protection committee at the State Assembly, but they have also helped us to have, working with the State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, social protection being budgeted at the state level,” she said.

She said the development would help sustain projects supported by development partners, adding that the EU was also supporting the state in areas including health, education and durable solutions.

Osuji said the expectation was that the state government would eventually take full ownership of the interventions.

Also speaking, the Head of the EU Field Office in Sokoto, Michael Juma, stressed the need for effective utilisation of public resources and capacity development for members of the State Assembly.

Juma said strengthening the technical capacity of lawmakers would enable them to scrutinise legislation, policies, standard operating procedures and budget implementation more effectively.

“The function of the State Assembly, to be quite efficient and effective, requires capacity development,” he said.

He commended the Assembly for embracing digitalisation, describing it as an important step towards improving the efficiency of parliamentary activities.

Juma also noted that Sokoto was among the states that had fully adopted programme-based budgeting, which he said helped define targets and expected results while improving monitoring and accountability.

He urged the Assembly to ensure that appropriated funds were released and used for their intended purposes.

The EU official also commended the Assembly for increased budgetary allocation to the social sector, particularly education, which he said had received more than 16 per cent of the state budget.

He said adequate funding of social sectors would help address the needs of children, women and persons with disabilities.

In his remarks, the Majority Leader of the Sokoto State House of Assembly and Chairman of its Social Protection Committee, Hon. Muhammad Bello Idris, said the legislature was committed to strengthening its partnership with development organisations.

Idris said the Assembly had benefited from collaborations with the EU, UNICEF and ILO through conferences, workshops and other capacity-building programmes.

He disclosed that the Assembly was considering a proposal to incorporate English Language and Mathematics into the Almajiri and Tsangaya education system.

“The efforts being made by the state government are there in the Ministry of Education. When you look at the budget, you see that a lot of provisions have been made in that area,” he said.

He said the engagement with development partners came at an appropriate time for lawmakers to consider the budgetary provisions required to enable the government to implement the proposed programme.

Idris also disclosed that the Assembly had sought support from development partners for the digitalisation of parliamentary activities, adding that the request had been forwarded to the partners and was being considered.

The engagement formed part of efforts by development partners and the state legislature to strengthen social protection, improve budgetary processes and enhance legislative capacity for improved service delivery in Sokoto.