The “Lagos Cares Livelihood Support Delivery, DLI 1.3” social intervention platform, run by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has trained skill instructors on how to properly engage roughly 2,145 vulnerable poor residents who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is part of the ministry’s efforts to lessen the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihood of poor and vulnerable households.
Speaking at the event held at the Women Development Centre in Agege, WAPA’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Oluyemi Kalesanwo, said the programme was designed to boost the economy, prevent business failures, and offer short skill training to young people in the State who are economically active and self-employed.
She said, “Government initiated this programme with the assistance of the Federal Government and the World Bank to ensure people get back to their previous status before the onset of COVID-19, as well as have enough to feed themselves and cater for their families”.
Kalesanwo tasked the instructors with doing their best work and seeing to it that the trainees under their supervision receive the necessary instruction.
The Permanent Secretary reiterated the Government’s commitment to the program’s implementation but said that stringent monitoring would be implemented by the Ministry and that the current administration will discipline any instructors who fall short of expectations.
The Director of the Platform for the Delivery of Livelihood Support, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Salami, indicated in her speech that the database of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget’s State Social Register was used to transparently choose the prospective recipients.
Salami said that the effort will help meet the needs of vulnerable people of the State, regardless of their gender or ethnic distinctions, and emphasised that the programme was created for everyone without any gender bias.
Mr. Basit Baruwa, a member of the State Cares Coordinating Unit, added his voice to the discussion and stated that the beneficiaries were chosen based on merit and that the programme was run without charge because there was no training fee.
At the conclusion of the training programme, Baruwa reaffirmed the government’s willingness to give the beneficiaries more power.