By Philip Yatai

Stakeholders on Friday validated the Social Inclusion Assessment Report of the social protection programmes of Federal and State governments, to strengthen inclusion in delivery of social protection programmes.

Mrs Eunice Victor, Social Protection and Inclusion Coordinator, Save the Children international (SCI), said at the meeting in Abuja, that the effort was to strengthen programmes and policies for social inclusion.

Victor said the assessment was under the Child Development Grant Programme being implemented by SCI with funding support from the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

She pointed out that the Federal and some state governments had rolled out social protection interventions that guarantee security to the deprived and protect the vulnerable against risks associated with livelihood.

Victor, however, said that for social protection to be effective, it must be inclusive and a right for all, irrespective of gender, race, age disability, location, and ethnic affiliation.

This, she said, would ensure that the most excluded and marginalised members of society benefit from social protection programme interventions.

According to her, inclusive social protection is a prerequisite for bridging the poverty gap and achieving sustainable development by addressing social exclusion.

“Stakeholders from Jigawa and Kano have validated and made their inputs to the document on Thursday and today, stakeholders from Kaduna and Zamfara states will do same.’’

The consultant, Mr Obono Obono, said that the objective of the assessment was to identify the most excluded and marginalised groups in the country and undertake a situation analysis of the excluded group.

“We equally identified critical issues and barriers faced by the marginalised groups in terms of restriction to participation and access to social protection services.

“We have also assessed the extent to which state and national social protection programmes and policies promote and contribute to social inclusion.

“The document further identified and assessed the gaps and opportunities for the integration of social inclusion objectives and measures in existing social protection programmes and policies,” he said.

Obono added that the assessment report made recommendations for strengthening state and national social protection programmes and policies for social inclusion.