48,000 households impacted by Lagos poverty alleviation programme - official

Lagos State commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), Bolaji Dada, says some 48,000 households have been impacted by the state’s social intervention programmes under which women receive cash transfers and acquire vocational skills.

The intervention programme is aimed at tackling poverty especially among women in the state.

Dada, who stated this while briefing State House journalists on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu-led administration, said over 1,050 rural women received intensive training towards boosting agricultural production and giving the beneficiaries equal access to market.

According to the commissioner, the state government, in the last two years, supported women in achieving gender equality, self-reliance, skill balance, inclusion in social security systems and stable means of livelihood.

Dada said her ministry, in collaboration with the Office of the Sustainable Development Goals and Investment (SDG & I), supported 2,704 Lagos residents whose means of livelihood had been disrupted by Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. She added that 500 women were assisted with N20,000 each through Rural Women Grants from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.

“In the last two years, WAPA, through the women affairs department, organised series of programmes and activities aimed at improving the status of women and making them economically independent. To increase the total GDP for income generation, financial growth and stability, we embarked on supporting women through direct cash intervention and capacity building.

“Over 48,000 women from different households directly benefited from the state government’s mega empowerment project.”