The federal government is to begin the disbursement of N5,000 to one million urban workers in the informal sector, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has said.
Farouq spoke on Thursday, May 27, 2021, in Abuja, while declaring open a two-day workshop on effective reporting of the humanitarian sector, organized for the ministry’s press team and humanitarian correspondents.
“The Rapid Response Register has been put in place by the Ministry as a shock responsive intervention register specifically targeted at the urban informal workers impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“One million beneficiaries will receive cash transfers of N5, 000 for six months. A pilot scheme commenced earlier this year with 3,115 beneficiaries in Lagos and Abuja. It will be scaled nationwide,” she said.
Farouq, who acknowledged the important role of the media in educating, informing, creating awareness, sensitizing, and acting as the watchdog of society, tasked journalists to uphold professionalism.
“The media is one of the critical partners of the ministry. Its role in the dissemination of the mandate, policies, activities, programmes, and achievements of the Ministry to the public cannot be over-emphasized.
“In the humanitarian sector, the media plays a major role during emergencies and disasters by providing vital information to both the public and the government before, during, and after the incidents.
The media educates people about consequences, hazards, and warnings on disasters and alerts government for rescue and interventions, hence the need for increased collaboration between the Ministry, humanitarian actors, and the media,” she said.
Noting that the “Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development was created in 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration with the mandate to develop humanitarian policies and provide effective coordination of national and international humanitarian interventions; ensure strategic disaster mitigation, preparedness, and response; and manage the formulation and implementation of fair, focused, social inclusion and protection programmes in Nigeria”, she said: “And these mandates cannot be achieved without the partnership of key stakeholders, the media inclusive.”
“The ministry since inception has recorded a number of achievements in the area of coordination, partnership, interventions, cooperation, sensitization, and prompt emergency response,” she said.
She added: “The Ministry has been able to initiate the development of a policy for the sector while collaborating with other MDAs on the review of and update of existing policies as it relates to the ministry.”
Source: Vanguard
