By Atoyebi Nike
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has launched a new initiative to strengthen Benue State’s social protection systems, with a focus on vulnerable populations.
Funded by the European Union, the project titled Support to Sustainable Social Protection Systems aims to enhance service delivery to children, displaced persons, people with disabilities, and the poorest households in four pilot states: Benue, Abia, Oyo, and Sokoto.
UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in Enugu, Mrs. Juliet Chiluwe, made the announcement during a stakeholders’ meeting in Makurdi on Monday.
She explained that the initiative includes two major assessments: one reviewing the National Social Registry (NSR) and another evaluating state and federal social protection policies. These reviews are expected to provide actionable recommendations to improve coverage, accuracy, and efficiency in identifying and supporting those most in need.
Chiluwe said the Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI), commissioned by UNICEF, will conduct both reviews. “This process will help strengthen Benue’s social protection delivery to its poor and displaced populations, including the 75% of residents classified as multidimensionally poor,” she said.
Also speaking at the event, Katharina Bollig, a representative of EPRI, said the institute would conduct interviews with ministries, departments, and agencies in Benue to assess how the NSR and state-level policies align with national frameworks.
Benue State’s Director General of Budget and Planning, Jerome Andohor, underscored the urgency of the project, noting that Benue’s poverty rate stands at 32.9%, with nearly 1.7 million people listed in the social register.
“Benue is the food basket of the nation. If poverty continues to rise here, it will have national consequences,” Andohor warned.
He welcomed the review process as a step toward creating implementable, data-driven policies aligned with national goals and capable of responding to shocks and crises.
