It’s pivotal that Nigerians Understanding NG-Cares Institutional Arrangements. The State/FCT CARES Steering Committee provide oversight and policy guidance to the Programme in the State or FCT.
It is comprised of Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries of the key sectoral Ministries and Policy Heads of Agencies. The SCSC is led by the Commissioner responsible for Planning and Budget or Finance.
State CARES Coordinating Unit (SCCU)
The SCCU is the secretariat of the State CARES Steering Committee (SCSC) and prepares periodic collation of results from Delivery Units, and monitors the progress of implementation and disbursements. It is a small unit that coordinates the programme in the state and is domiciled in the Ministry of Budget and Planning/Finance.
READ – Special Notice to Those Who Complete NG-Cares Financial Support Application
Delivery Platforms:
These are Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that implement the NG-CARES Programme in the States and FCT. They are:
The Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA), State Cash Transfer Unit (SCTU), the State Public Workfare (PWF) Unit and SEEFOR structures are the Delivery Platforms for Result Area 1. Some States, where these platforms are not available, will use other Agencies and Platforms with mandate and responsibility for delivery on the Results Area.
The Fadama unit of the State Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the delivery of DLIs in Result Area 2.
The State-owned MSE support Agencies working in close partnership with the GEEP platform of the Bank of Industry (BOI) at the State is responsible for the delivery of the DLIs in Results Area 3. Some State MSE platforms with sufficient and assessed capability will work solely (that is, take full responsibility) for delivery of the DLIs in this Result Area.
NG-CARES: Who Benefits?
Beneficiaries of the NG-CARES Programme are drawn from the State Poverty Map, State Social Register or any register verified by the State and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Farmers/Traders Associations and Cooperatives.
In Nigeria, the pandemic led to the closure of many MSEs, loss of jobs, stalled provision of basic services in poor communities and thereby increasing the population of Nigerians living below the poverty line.
As a response to the hardship perpetrated by the COVID-19 pandemic and in line with the vision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years, the Federal Government of Nigeria, on behalf of the 36 states and the FCT, sought and obtained assistance from the World Bank to the tune of USD 750 Million for on-lending to the States and FCT to implement a two-year emergency response programme, named the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES). Each State is allocated ex-ante USD 20 million, FCT $15 Million and the Federal CARES Support Unit is allocated USD 15 million.
The NG-CARES programme seeks to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the livelihoods of poor individuals, farmers, vulnerable households, communities and owners of micro and small enterprises. The financial instrument is Programme for Result (PforR) at the states and FCT while the Federal level is financed through the Investment Project Financing (IPF).
NG-CARES leverages on past, successfully implemented government interventions such as Community and Social Development Project (CSDP), Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), National Cash Transfer Programme (NCTP), National FADAMA Programme, State Employment and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) and Youth Employment and Social Support Operations (YESSO) without creating another project implementation structure.
It is designed to support a budgeted programme of expenditures and interventions at the State level – targeting existing and emerging vulnerable and poor households, agricultural value chains, and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) affected by the economic crisis.
