The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation has set up a 13-man steering committee on fund-raising for the purpose of complementing efforts of the federal government targeted at poverty alleviation.
Members of the committee consists of seven staff from different departments of the ministry and six officials of the Foreign Investment Network, United Kingdom, which had written a proposal to the ministry for collaboration on poverty alleviation.
Speaking Wednesday in Abuja, during the inauguration of the committee, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Mr Abel Enitan, said poverty alleviation should not be left for the federal government alone to undertake, hence his happiness with the intervention of the organisation.
He said: “The committee will integrate the offer that came to the ministry in terms of funding sources so that the ministry can receive a boost in funding. As the chairman of Foreign Investment Network pointed out, we need funding for our activities as our primary vision is to take care of the less privileged in our society, including disaster victims. Our effort is targeted at poverty alleviation.
“Yesterday, we celebrated the International Day for Poverty Eradication and Mr President graciously launched the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer programme for 15 million households.
“The truth is that if the poor is hungry and not living comfortably, the rich will not sleep too. Therefore, the comfort of the poor should be a matter of concern for the rich. This is why Mr President is concerned about poverty alleviation. We need to team up to ensure poverty eradication. It is not about the government alone. That is why we appreciate the organisation for partnering with us.”
