Oyo State Government, on Monday, launched the Oyo State Social Protection Policy targeting a poverty reduction rate of 50 percent by 2031 from its current 9.8 percent baseline.
Specifically, 491,500 poorest and most vulnerable groups of residents are targeted for social assistance, social insurance, market interventions with requisite legislations, regulations, and management arrangements for social protection programmes in the State.
Classified among poorest and most vulnerable groups are women, children, young persons, youths, persons with disabilities (PWDs), unemployed, and the elderly.
The policy was launched by Secretary to the Oyo State Government (SSG), Professor Olanike Adeyemo assisted by Chief of Staff to the Oyo governor, Honourable Segun Ogunwuyi; Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Professor Musibau Babatunde; Social Policy Manager, UNICEF, Mr Muhammed Okorie and others, at the event held at the Ibadan Business School.
The social protection system aims at reducing economic and social vulnerability of the poor, vulnerable, and marginalised groups through consistent removal of financial barriers that stand between them and healthcare, qualitative education, gainful employment, and access to micro-investment capital.
When fully operational, the system is to transform the state into a society where all residents, especially the poor and most vulnerable are well cared for and supported to live a fulfilled life.
Measures to implement the policy include provision of free nutrition services, adequate, qualitative, and free comprehensive healthcare for children, pregnant and lactating women, PWDs, and the aged.
Also captured in the document is the provision of cash or in-kind grants for poorest and most vulnerable household’s, provision of free transportation to all pupils in public primary schools in educationally disadvantaged communities in the State.
The implementation is also expected to see the establishment of a contributory special intervention fund to provide ‘lean season safety nets in mitigating impacts of unexpected loss of investments due to crop failure, drought, flooding, fire, militia faced by the poorest and most vulnerable persons.
Interventions will also see the establishment of job and employment bureau, provision of special scheme for young farmers that increases access to land, inputs, mechanisation and extension services to scale up production, processing and uptake of their produce.
Also to establish, under the policy, is a social protection trust fund for the state which will generate, overtime, off-budget reserve money to finance the provision of social protection services to target beneficiaries.
The state will also promote partnership with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the operations of existing market intervention schemes to ensure poor and the vulnerable are able to access grants, waivers and other forms of financial support in an enduring manner.
The Oyo SSG represented by Permanent Secretary, General Administration, Dr Gbolagade Oyedele, said the state government, in unveiling the policy, showed its commitment to promote social justice, equity, inclusive development and reducing vulnerability of the poor and marginalised groups.
She charged relevant stakeholders to make judicious use of the policy document to improve living conditions, take people out of poverty, reduce vulnerabilities in the state to the nearest minimum.
Also, present at the launch were Oyo Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi; Commissioner for Education, Professor Soliu Adelabu; Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs Toyin Balogun; chairman, Oyo Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Honourable Sunkanmi Babalola; Head of Service, Mrs Olubunmi Oni.