State government representatives across the federation and their partners have agreed to adopt a five-year National Social Protection Programme, following the close-out of the Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) programme.

At a close-out event in Abuja, Executive Director of development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), Dr Judith-Ann Walker, said stakeholders’ commitment is crucial to the push for greater advocacy to increase funding for social assistance.

She noted that the BASIC programme, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and anchored by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN), at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex, focuses on strengthening social assistance delivery.

Walker explained that following group sessions reflecting on BASIC’s findings, Commissioners and Directors of Social Investment in the state offices pledged to implement key reforms upon returning to their locations.  She said: “A crucial commitment was the push for greater advocacy to increase funding for social assistance.

“We will mass-mobilise and engage our communities to significantly increase awareness of the scope, coverage, and benefits of our state social assistance programmes.”

She reiterated that as stakeholders, “we commit to leveraging BASIC’s data on social assistance budget performance and will collaborate with CSOs to defend and advocate for increases of social assistance budget lines during the 2026 budget defence and public hearings.”

The executive director also emphasised the enduring value of the programme’s output.

“This is a national resource for everyone, for donor-funded social protection advocacy projects, for media organisations seeking facts, for students of public finance and most importantly, for policymakers,” she added.

The programme, which is being implemented by dRPC in collaboration with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), has successfully garnered high-level commitments from stakeholders.