Not fewer than 90,000 households in North-East subregion of the country are to benefit from a program meant to eradicate poverty by providing a source of income to them as part of the effort to fighting poverty and unemployment in the area.
The four states of the North-East sub-region that will benefit from the program are; Adamawa Borno, Gombe and Yobe that were carefully selected considering the poverty rate of the state according to available demographic statistics.
The program is powered by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) known as Mercy Corps through its systemic change in market system programme which is aimed at moving the beneficiaries out of their present poverty situation.
The disclosure was made by the Deputy Chief of Party of Mercy Corps, Mal Farouk Kurana when the organisation paid a courtesy call on Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, at the Government House, Gombe on Monday.
Farouk Kurana also said that the programme which was tagged Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity (PRA) is a five year funded programme being implemented by a consortium led by Mercy Corps with support from International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC ) and Save the Children.
Farouk Kurana said: “The programme which requires counterpart funding, will facilitate economic recovery and growth in vulnerable conflict-affected areas in the region.”
He added that “the program will also ensure long term improvements to markets that will sustainably move over 90,000 households in the North-East out of abject poverty by creating employment opportunities for them.”
The Chief of the party further said that the intervention will focus attention on women and youth with innovative ideas to realize their potential by linking them with banks to access single digit interest loan.
He then assured, “We will expand opportunities for women and youth to engage in marketable vocational skills, and access mentorship.”
Earlier the country Director Mr Ndubisi Anyawu said Mercy corps has been in Nigeria since 2012 giving live savings assistance to vulnerable Nigerians in its bid to reduce poverty and unemployment rates in the country particularly among poorest of the poor.
While responding, Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, expressed his willingness to partner with Mercy Corps in implementation of programmes that will eradicate poverty and provide employment opportunities to people of the state particularly youths and women.
The governor added that he will do whatever is required to enable the state benefit from the programme because according to him, one of the priorities of his government is poverty eradication and job creation.
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