AK-CARES Facilitators Urged To Use Expertise In Enrolling Social Transfer Beneficiaries

By Solomon Umanah

UYO

Local government facilitators involved in the Akwa Ibom Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (AK-CARES) project have been urged to employ their expertise in the enrollments of social transfer beneficiaries into the programme. 

 The commissioner for women affairs and social welfare, Dr Ini Adiakpan, who made the call, recently, while declaring open a one-day enrollment training for local government facilitators in the 31 local government areas of the state at theWomen Development Centre, IBB Way, Uyo, said the enrollment training was organized with a view to strengthening the already built capacity of the local government facilitators, to ensure smooth enrollment process at the grassroots. 

 Adiakpan expressed appreciation to Gov Udom Emmanuel for granting Akwa Ibom the enablement to participate in the programme, saying AK-CARES was a part of the World Bankintervention strategies aimed at supporting the emerging poor and vulnerable households who were adversely affected during the period of Covid-19 pandemic which, she noted, had engulfed the entire world. 

 While urging the participants to pay rapt attention to details of the training in order to ensure effective exercise at the field, the women affairs boss expressed optimism that the training would equip the facilitators with required tools and skills needed for the job. 

 Earlier in her welcome address, the head of unit, State Social Cash Transfer Unit (SCTU), Mrs Christiana Akpan, said the participants were carefully selected to ensure speedy implementation of the AK-CARES programme in the state. 

 While commending the commissioner for women affairs and social welfare, Adiakpan, and her counterpart in the Ministry of Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Mr Emem Bob, for their relentless efforts at ensuring speedy implementation of the programme in the state, Akpan expressed confidence that the participants would be fully equipped to carry out their assigned duties at the end of the training. 

 In his speech, the state focal person on Social Investment programmes, Dr Godwin Akpan, said the various social investment projects such as N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), GEEP loans and Schools Feeding Programmes, were meant to touch the lives of the less-privileged and other vulnerable persons positively with a view to improving their living conditions.

He urged the facilitators not to consider the programme as political patronage, rather they should deliver on their assigned responsibilities in order to achieve targeted goals.  

 The event, which drew facilitators across the 31 local government areas of the state, was attended by the permanent secretaries in the Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, as well as Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Mrs Margaret Edem and Mr Effiong Ekpenyong, respectively.