AKSG Releases N450m Counterpart Funds To Scale Up NFWP, MCS

… Inaugurates Multisectoral Coordinating Structure C’ttee
By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
The Akwa Ibom government has released N450 million to scale up and fund the Federal Government’s Nigeria For Women Project, NFWP, and the inaugurated Multi-sectoral Coordinating Structure, MCS, committee to optimize the success of the project in the state. 
The state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, who announced the release of the funds, recently, during the inauguration of the MCS committee at the EXCO Chambers of Government House, Uyo, said the funds were released for the scale-up and inauguration of the body to provide the platform to access the money for project implementation as well as the World Bank intervention portfolio funds for the 29 participating states.
The 14-member MCS committee,  chaired by Governor Eno, and co-chaired by the deputy governor, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, has the State’s project coordinator as its secretary, while the commissioner for women affairs and social welfare, Mrs. Inibehe Silas, and the special adviser, Bureau of Cooperatives and rural development, commissioners for health; finance; budget and economic planning; education; agriculture; water resource and sanitation; trade and investment; permanent secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs Margaret Edem, are members.
Others are: the executive secretary, Akwa Ibom Primary Healthcare Development Agency; permanent secretary, Human Capacity Development; legal advisor, the Nigeria For Women Project; and the secretary, State Project Coordinator of the state’s coordinating unit of the Nigeria For Women Project.
Inaugurating the committee, Eno said the terms of reference were: to ensure that each sector and ministry clearly identified its priority programme with respect to the State’s commitment to women economic empowerment; support the operationalisation of women affinity groups as platforms for delivery of developmental activities; ensure women economic empowerment, has adequate attention in the state’s development strategies and framework as well as budgeting processes.
He mentioned other terms of reference as: the review of annual plans and progress reports from the different ministries and sectors in the MCS, making appropriate recommendations on gaps or areas that require extra attention, as well as carrying out other responsibilities that may be assigned to them by the governor.
Eno noted that the NFWP was a major initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria supported by the World Bank to improve the lives of women across the country.
He said in Akwa Ibom, the project seeks to improve thousands of women with the skills, resources and support needed to generate income, improve household conditions, and contribute more effectively to local development.
Eno pointed out that, to achieve the goals, the multi-sectoral coordinating structure was an essential mechanism designed to ensure effective collaboration among key ministries and agencies involved in women economic empowerment. 
The governor said  the MCS would help integrate the efforts of various sectors, such as health, agriculture, and education into a cohesive strategy for empowering women, even as it provides the structure needed to plan, implement, and monitor these efforts, ensuring that each ministry was accountable and progress was made in ways that support the broader objectives of the NFWP.
The governor stated that, the inauguration of the multi-sectoral coordinating structure was a key opportunity to drive inclusive development, and that prioritising the launch would help unlock the full potentials of the NFWP by bringing together different ministries to work in harmony and support women’s success.