.Implemented with Abia Government, UNICEF, ILO partnership
.Only 14.8% Nigerians benefit from EFFECTIVE Social Protection, says UNICEF Rep
The 13 million Euros European Union (EU)-funded Social Protection System Strengthening Project (SUSI) has been launched in Abia State, with the state government, UNICEF, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as the implementing partners.
At the launch in Umuahia, the state capital, the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Wafaa Saeed, in his Goodwill Message, said that SUSI “is more than a project, but a promise that families and children will not fall through the cracks.
“Social protection is not just a safety net; it is a springboard that allows people to live with dignity, to grow, and to thrive.”
Saeed said that the reality is that only 14.8% of Nigerians currently benefit from effective social protection, while behind this number are real families under strain, hence the SUSI project is here to change the scenario through stronger policies, better data, smarter coordination, and proper financing.
“SUSI must reach the child in a remote village, the mother struggling to make ends meet, the elderly and people with disabilities, and the young people whose future depends on the systems being built.”
Saeed, while commending Abia State governor Dr Alex Otti for his bold leadership vision to ensure that no citizen is left behind, thanked the EU for believing in Nigerian children and families, and for helping UNICEF strengthen systems that can withstand shocks and crises.
The Nigeria Country UNICEF Representative (Saeed) therefore, urged that this project launch should not be treated as the start of a project, but as the start of a movement, a movement that affirms the dignity, rights, and potential of every Nigerian, especially our children.
“UNICEF’s vision is clear – a Nigeria where every child is protected, every family supported, and every community empowered. Hence, together, we can make it happen,” he stated.
In attendance at the launch, held at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Umuahia, the state capital, were the state governor, Dr. Alex Otti; the Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Gautier Mignot; the Director ILO Country Office, Ms. Vanessa Phala-Moyo; the UNICEF Chief of Field Services, Judith Leveillee; the Abia State Commissioners for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection and Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs. Blessing Ngozi Felix and Kingsley Anosike, respectively, among others.
They all spoke in turns during the event, which also featured the formal inauguration of the state Social Protection Council by Governor Otti, and the handover of some ICT equipment to the state by the EU Ambassador to facilitate updating of the register to integrate more vulnerable persons/households.
Governor Otti, in his address, expressed optimism that the Social Protection Council will further broaden the scope and reach of the state’s efforts to cater for vulnerable groups across communities.
He said that his administration has not treated poverty and social deprivation as isolated events, having set up well-structured platforms like the Abia State Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, the Abia State Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, and the Abia State Senior Citizen Centre to drive the state’s social protection programs.
The EU Ambassador, Gautier Mignot, who said that the SUSI project partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF in Nigeria will span over three years (2024–2027), corroborated that the 13-million Euros funded project is being implemented by UNICEF and ILO in four states, namely Abia, Benue, Oyo, Sokoto, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with its target being “strengthening Nigeria’s social protection system, expanding coverage for the most vulnerable, and ensuring that no one is left behind.”
According to the EU Ambassador, investment in social protection complements the EU’s shared goals in education, health, gender equality, and economic development, positing that when a family has access to safety nets, it reduces inequality and poverty levels.
In her address, the UNICEF Chief of Field Services, Judith Leveillee, while expressing delight for UNICEF’s partnership in the SUSI implementation with ILO (describing ILO as its sister agency), stated that the duo (UNICEF and ILO) are committed to the full implementation of the program in the state.
The ILO Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Vanessa Lerato Phala-Moyo, in her address, said that the SUSI project evidences the vision of Governor Otti’s new roadmap to the new Abia, and to Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, stating that the ILO will partner with UNICEF towards implementing and providing social safety nets to include the most vulnerable in society.
The state Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Mrs Blessing Felix, said that the 36-month SUSI project program was designed to deliver four key results, including the expansion and updating of the state social register to ensure the integration of more poor and vulnerable households into the register.
