Zamfara Assembly set to receive social protection Bill- Chairman
By Gabriel Udeh Kaduna
The Zamfara Social Protection Bill is to be presented to the State House of Assembly by the end of Sept. 2021, for deliberation and passage.
Mr Nasiru Bungudu, Chairman, House Committee on Justice and Judiciary, stated this at a one-day meeting organised by the Zamfara government in Kaduna.
The meeting was convened by the state’s Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, with support from UNICEF to clean up the draft Social Protection Bill.
Bungudu, who is also the Deputy House Leader, said that the bill would be presented to the House as a private bill along with 10 members of the assembly.
He expressed confidence that the bill would be passed before the end of the year.
According to him, the bill, if passed, would ensure that every child and vulnerable persons in the state had access to basic social services.
“This is in line with the current administration’s commitment to reducing poverty and among its citizens”, he said.
Also speaking, Mr Isah Ibrahim, UNICEF Social Policy Specialist, said the bill if passed and signed into law, would ensure sustainability of all social protection programmes and reduce poverty among the people.
Ibrahim added that the law would equally provide guiding principles for managing social protection programmes in the state.
“It will also enhance human capital development, dignity of human life, promote social welfare, improve food security and nutrition.
“It will provide synergy and coordination among all development partners and Non-Governmental Organisations,” he said.
He appealed to the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, to create a department for social protection in the ministry, to coordinate implementation of social protection programmes.
Alhaji Rabiu Garba, the Commissioner in charge of the Ministry, thanked UNICEF and other stakeholders for their support towards the development of the State Social Protection Bill.
Garba said that Gov. Bello Matawalle was committed to working with UNICEF and other development partners towards responding to the needs of the people, particularly with the current security challenges and poverty bedeviling the state.
He assured UNICEF that the ministry would look into the possibility of creating a Social Protection Department before the end of Sept.
The Commissioner also appealed to UNICEF to support the State, in reviewing its 10-year Development Plan to enhance the human, economic, infrastructural, and social development of the state.
