The United Kingdom government has provided £4.7 million for the development of social protection programmes and policies in Jigawa, Kano, Zamfara and Kaduna states.
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The three-year project, tagged “Expanding Social Protection for Inclusive Development (ESPID), commenced in 2021 and was funded through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to reduce multidimensional poverty in Nigeria.

It was implemented by Save the Children International (SCI) and Action Against Hunger (AAH). Country Director of SCI Nigeria, Duncan Harvey, while speaking at the close-out ceremony of the ESPID project yesterday in Abuja, observed that intersecting shocks were driving more Nigerians into poverty and vulnerability,

Stressing the need for the county to fully implement its social protection, he said it was shocking for a country so endowed with human and natural resources to have 133 million of its population multi-dimensionally poor and about 67.5per cent of the figure as children between ages zero and 17.

Harvey said through the programme, they have forged new relationships, strengthened partnerships, and leveraged influence to promote adoption of robust social protection measures, as well as generated evidence, advocated policy reforms, and built the capacity of systems to ensure that Nigerian citizens – especially children and their caregivers -experience a tangible reduction in multi-dimensional poverty.

He stated that the ESPID has seen the finalisation of the review of the National Social Protection Policy, enactment of social protection laws in Jigawa, Kaduna and Zamfara states, as well as approval of social protection policies in six states of Edo, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe and Zamfara.

Country Director of Action Against Hunger, Thierno Samba Diallo, represented by Head of Grants and Compliance, ACF, Meklit Misganaw, explained that the ESPID project was founded on the belief that every individual, regardless of circumstances, deserves access to available resources and support necessary for a dignified life.

She said through the ESPID, they have partnered with the National Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) in strengthening the Federal Government’s safety net policies and programmes, as well as fostering gender equality and social inclusion.
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