DTSG Commends World Bank, Federal Government for Collaborative Efforts on NG-CARES Programme

Post created on 10:08 am

Delta State Government says it is prepared to increase the number of beneficiaries for the State Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus, D-CARES as against the three Hundred and six thousand, one hundred and seventy-seven direct beneficiaries and over one point two million indirect beneficiaries already impacted.

The Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, said this during the NG-CARES South-South Zonal Consultative Meeting held at Unity Hall in government house Asaba the state capital, to review the performance of the Independent Verification Agents, IVA, engaged for the NG-CARES Programme to strengthen the intervention proceeding into the next phase of NG-CARES 2.0.

Oborevwori who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Kingsley Emu, said the next phase is the Community Action approach, which empowers communities to drive the program from the scratch to meet the needs of persons termed as the local people, the most vulnerable, and communities taking ownership of projects like building and rehabilitating social infrastructure.

Afiku Abubakar who spoke on behalf of the National Coordinator of NG-CARES, Abdulkarim Obaje, explained that the programme was designed by the Federal Government and the World Bank to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable groups noting that the IVA Performance Review Report would help guide the roadmap for the next phase.

Delta State Coordinator of NG-CARES, Patience Ogbewe, in her welcome address, underscored the importance of the review meeting, noting that its outcomes would inform planning for NG-CARES 2.0.

Also speaking, World Bank Task Team Leader, Dr. Lire Ersado, described NG-CARES as a state-led initiative with strong financial commitments from participating states. He disclosed that while the World Bank provided a $700 million loan, states have jointly contributed $2.2 billion to sustain the programme.