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Peter Mbah’s socio-economic policies of eradicating poverty in Enugu State By Ejeh Josh In its recent report released on 13 of December, 2023, the World Bank presented a graphic image of a country receding deeper into the pit of poverty as a result of years of accumulated mismanagement, bad governance and poor system of leadership. The report shows an economy plummeting despite reforms by the present federal government to salvage the situation. This has sent, at least, 104 million Nigerians to the dungeon of extreme poverty, rapidly moving away from 79 million people living in poverty in 2018, according to the World Bank release. An attempt to understand the meaning of “extreme poverty” would have a recourse to the World Bank’s September 2022 adjustment to global poverty lines which benchmarks any person living below the sum of $2.15 per day as living below poverty line or held in extreme poverty. The above figure is not new to Nigeria as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its 2022 National Multidimensional Poverty Index Report, squared 133 million Nigerians as multi-dimensionally poor. The reports noted that the reasons for the increase in poverty were not unconnected with the sluggish growth and hyper-inflation the country is going through. This has implications to the overall well-being of the country. First, more Nigerians will face a scourge of hunger as their purchasing power falls. Second, there is pressure and stress on those outside the poverty line for maintenance, and this may probably drag them down the line of poverty. Third, crime rate will increase among the youth. Fourth, high incident of school dropouts are expected. Fifth, human capital flight, known otherwise, as the “Jappa syndrome” which is a brain drain to Nigeria and its economy, will be on the rise. The list goes on almost without end. Appreciating the above terrific throes Nigeria is presently mired, the Enugu State governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, threw down the gauntlet, first in his statement of purpose or manifesto which boldly has its vision statement as “making Enugu one of the 3 top states in Nigeria in terms of Gross Domestic Product, and to achieve a zero percent rate in the poverty headcount index.” This vision, although, sounds lofty, could only be achieved with focus, dedication, resilience, discipline, and “intentional” drive of disrupting the norm and its prevailing status quo. Like Mr. Mbah keeps reminding himself and his team, “we are in a hurry to achieve our humongous promises to the people of Enugu State”. A study of some of the policy and economic reforms being undertaken by the state government would reveal a government truly in a hurry to deliver on its mandate. First has been the intention of the Mbah administration to peg a timeline to every project undertaken and enjoin the citizens to participate in the process of execution by holding the government to account. Matching up these timelines are the core internal policies in which one ...

jonews.ng | Latest Nigeria newsClosely monitor poverty alleviation funds - APC chieftain Oyintiloye urges Tinubu President Bola Tinubu has been urged to keep an eye on how the funds allocated to different poverty alleviation programmes in the country are being spent. The call was made by an All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, while speaking with DAILY POST on Sunday in Osogbo, Osun State capital. Oyintiloye, who said the passion of the president to alleviate poverty among the masses must not be allowed to be truncated by selfish individuals, suggested that all necessary strategies must be put in place to ensure that different poverty intervention programmes by the president have positive impacts on the lives of the less privileged Nigerians. In his words, “We must encourage and support the president to keep eagle eye on these intervention programmes to prevent diversion. “Since the money is meant to alleviate poverty among the masses, every necessary strategy must be in place to ensure that allocated money have positive impacts on the lives of the less privileged Nigerians.” The Osun APC chieftain also commended the president on the N150 billion allocated for poverty alleviation programmes in year 2024. “The allocated amount would go a long way in impacting positively the lives of several Nigerians. “The money which is to be spent under the National Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy, NPRGS would stabilise and improve the livelihood of the vulnerable masses,” he added. He also noted that the money allocated under the four pillars of macro-economic stability, industrialisation, structural policies/institutional reforms and redistributive policies/programmes of government under the NPRGS was a good development. He said the allocated fund would assist in fighting poverty, create economic growth and employment. DAILY POST recalls that the NPRGS was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2021 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to address poverty, particularly in rural areas. The programme is to run for 10 years (2021-2031), with an estimated implementation cost of $1.6 trillion at an annual average of about $161 billion. https://lnkd.in/e5cE7cdX #Uncategorized

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀? 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗻𝘇𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮? 𝗜𝗳 𝘀𝗼, 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂! Our Data & Evidence to End Extreme Poverty (povertyevidence) programme has launched 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱, in Tanzania! This fund awards small and medium grants to local researchers working on national poverty reduction. Tanzania faces a persistent issue of severe poverty, which has not improved despite significant economic growth in recent years. However, Tanzania has a favourable political and policy environment with opportunities for poverty to be addressed both directly through targeting and through modifications of design and management of existing national strategies, policies and programmes. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 aims to create research evidence that address demands of the policy makers on national level. Applications for the DEEP Challenge Fund Tanzania are open until *26 April 2024.* Find more details about this grant 👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿 https://lnkd.in/ecy5ybmM

Africa should strive to eliminate poverty to achieve sustainable inclusive growth Poverty is the main hurdle for Africa in attaining sustainable development goals and for an inclusive growth on the continent, says Sweta C. Saxena, Director, Gender, Poverty and Social Policy Division at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Eliminating poverty, she said has been an international goal for the last 75 years. The United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015 has No Poverty as its number 1 priority (Goal 1). In addition, the World Bank’s raison d'être is No Poverty for countries. Ms. Saxena was speaking at the 3rd Conference on the Dialogue between Chinese and African Civilizations in Beijing, China under the theme, Inheritance, Sharing, Development: Toward a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future, which she said, underscores the issues that are at the centre of sustainable development. Ms. Saxena highlighted three things that Africa needs to know about itself to achieve inclusive growth and eliminate poverty: First, is the need for Africa to know its values – which include its cultures and civilizations and whose power should not be underestimated. Hence, Africa needs to decolonize its mindset and revive its own civilizational and cultural values and chart its own path to prosperity. Second, she highlighted the need for Africa to know its visionary leaders and establish strong institutions for development. Africa, she said, needs strong leaders who think Africa, breathe Africa and live Africa. Third, she said that Africa needs to know its worth and realize its own potential. With 1.3 billion people and a large young population, abundant green minerals and natural resources, it can also solve the global climate problem. With a seat at the G20, Africa is able to tell the world how Africa can solve global problems, even those that were not created by Africans. “Poverty makes poor people tunnel their vision and tend to their immediate needs. This leads them to make bad decisions over a longer horizon and hence, poverty persists,” said Ms. Saxena adding that continuous shortage of money keeps people mired in these shark-like loans and hence, they find it harder to get out of poverty. This is how poverty begets poverty. She noted that close to 3 billion people experience these conditions on a daily basis. Globally, 2.2 billion people still lacked safely managed drinking water services, 3.5 billion lacked safely managed sanitation services, and 2.0 billion lacked basic hygiene services in 2022. Read full article 👉 https://lnkd.in/eYEtBC6z #Beijing #China #Africa #sustainabledevelopment

24.82 cr escaped multidimensional poverty (MPI) in last 9 years. NITI Aayog paper, ‘Multidimensional Poverty in India,’ give credit to initiatives that addressed all dimensions of the poverty between 2013-14 to 2022-23 [Full https://lnkd.in/d8SDiMbS] Oxford Policy & Human Development Initiative & UNDP provided inputs MPI is a globally recognised measure capturing poverty in multiple dimensions beyond monetary aspects. Based on https://lnkd.in/dWamujKX that identifies people as poor on universally acknowledged metric designed to assess acute poverty, providing a complementary perspective to conventional monetary poverty measures The decline is from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23 i.e. a reduction of 17.89 % points. U.P. has the largest decline with 5.94 cr people escaping MPI during the last 9 years followed by Bihar at 3.77 cr, M.P. at 2.30 cr & Rajasthan at 1.87 cr Decline in poverty headcount ratio using exponential method was much faster between 2015-16 to 2019-21 (10.66% annual rate of decline) compared to 2005-06 to 2015-16 (7.69% annual rate of decline). All 12 indicators of MPI improved during the study period Consequently, India is likely to achieve its SDG target of halving multidimensional poverty well before 2030. The dedication & resolute to enhancing lives of the most vulnerable & deprived have been instrumental The GOI has made progress in improving the lives of people, aiming to reduce poverty in all dimensions. Initiatives like Poshan Abhiyan & Anemia Mukt Bharat have enhanced access to healthcare facilities, leading to a decrease in deprivation. One of the world's largest food security programmes, the Targeted Public Distribution System under the National Food Security Act, covers 81.35 cr beneficiaries, providing food grains to rural & urban populations. Decisions such as extending free food grain distribution under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for another 5 years, exemplify Government's commitment. Programmes addressing maternal health, clean cooking fuel distribution through Ujjwala Yojana, improved electricity coverage via Saubhagya, & campaigns like Swachh Bharat Mission & Jal Jeevan Mission have collectively elevated living conditions & overall well-being. Additionally, programs like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana & PM Awas Yojana have played roles in financial inclusion & providing safe housing for the underprivileged While the performance of States varies, some States which were traditionally having high poverty have made progress in helping people escape poverty, thus reducing inter-state disparities in multidimensional poverty. With this, the fundamental problems in accessing basic services are getting resolved so that the country can look towards becoming a developed nation i.e. Viksit Bharat @2047

The Guardian article "Australia has a poverty problem – so why is there no agreed measure of it?" written by Lenore Taylor highlights a critical issue in addressing poverty - the lack of a standardised national measurement. Experts argue that effectively tackling poverty and disadvantage requires a clear understanding of how many people are affected and to what extent. Without a consensus on the metrics, efforts to alleviate poverty remain fragmented and less effective. This lack of consistency is a significant challenge, as research, reports and strategies by governments and social services currently rely on different methods and benchmarks, leading to widely varying conclusions about the extent and severity of poverty. Such discrepancies hinder a clear understanding of the problem, making it difficult to design and implement effective solutions. Nuanced measurement is essential because poverty is multifaceted, encompassing more than just income - it involves access to essential services, education, healthcare and social inclusion. To create meaningful change, there must be collaboration on what needs to be measured and how to interpret these metrics. This discussion emphasises the broader importance of measuring impact accurately. By agreeing on and refining metrics, we can better target interventions and allocate resources, ultimately achieving greater social impact. Effective measurement is not just about numbers - it's about understanding the realities of those affected and driving strategies that make a tangible difference in their lives. Establishing a standardised measurement is crucial for accurately assessing poverty and ensuring that efforts to address it are both targeted and impactful. 👉 Read full article here: https://lnkd.in/g7Z-pxSh).

Ways you as individual can help eradicate poverty Poverty is a complex and multilayered problem that affects millions of people in South Africa. As of 2023, an individual living on less than R1,058 is considered impoverished, according to the poverty lines. The recently published official Inflation-adjusted national poverty lines for 2023 (per person, per month in rands) stated that the Lower-bound poverty line (LBPL) is R1,058 and Upper-bound poverty line (UBPL) is R1,558 According to a Statista report, around 18.2 million people in SA are living in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at USD1.90 (R34,85) daily. By 2030, over 19.1 million South Africans will live on a maximum of USD1.90 […]

Dr Jane Lee, President of 團結香港基金 Our Hong Kong Foundation, as a member of Commission on Poverty, was interviewed by Now TV to discuss Hong Kong's poverty alleviation policies and current situation amidst a review on the concept of poverty alleviation.   Dr Lee mentioned the long-standing misinterpretation of the poverty line and the distortion of its original intention. Frankly, defining the poverty line is so complex that is affected by various factors, which cannot be explicitly illustrated with a few words or figures. She explained that the focus of effective poverty alleviation was not on this "line", but on how to target different groups of people, particularly the elderly, subdivided housing households, and single-parent households. Targeted poverty alleviation cannot be done unless diverse difficulties faced by the people are fully fathomed.   Dr Lee indicated that the government had made a good start by launching the current 3 poverty alleviation programmes, which were regarded as pilot schemes. However, poverty alleviation cannot rely solely on the Commission on Poverty. The government is advised to set up key performance indicators (KPI). Tackling intergenerational poverty and improving the education and public rental housing systems are priority tasks. Hence, assisting underprivileged groups in home ownership and increasing of upward mobility chances for their children through education are the core of the eradication of poverty.   Watch the Show: Clip 1: https://bit.ly/4cvmbqs Clip 2: https://bit.ly/4cw2Sxg

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: "𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐬: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫" Authors Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert offer a thought-provoking exploration of the complexities involved in poverty alleviation. The book challenges traditional views on charity and humanitarian efforts, providing a compelling argument for a more nuanced and sustainable approach to poverty alleviation. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 The authors begin by dissecting the common pitfalls in well-meaning efforts to help those who are experiencing poverty. The authors distinguish between different types of poverty: material, spiritual, social, and psychological, arguing that effective assistance must address these dimensions holistically. The book’s interdisciplinary approach draws from theology, economics, sociology, and development studies to provide another lens in which to view poverty alleviation. 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝟏. 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲: They challenge the conventional view of poverty as merely a lack of material resources. They introduce a holistic definition that includes social, spiritual, and psychological dimensions. 𝟐. 𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩: A key argument in the book is that many poverty alleviation efforts are counterproductive because they foster dependency and undermine the dignity of those experiencing poverty. Corbett and Fikkert advocate for a partnership model where people/communities are seen as active participants in their own development rather than passive recipients of aid. 3. 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟, 𝐑𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: The book distinguishes between the stages of relief, rehabilitation, and development, explaining that each stage requires different strategies and interventions. Understanding these distinctions is essential for providing appropriate and effective aid. 4. 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Effective poverty alleviation requires the active participation of the people/communities who are experiencing poverty in their own development. 5. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: The authors critique the popular practice of short-term mission trips, suggesting that these efforts often benefit the volunteers more than the recipients. They encourage a reevaluation of such missions to ensure they contribute to long-term, sustainable change. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor" is an essential read for anyone involved in global health, humanitarian work, community development or those who have a desire to see poverty alleviation from a different lens. Whether you are a donor, volunteer, or development professional, this book challenges you to rethink your approach to helping those in need, ensuring that your efforts do more good than harm.