Social protection can douse economic crisis – IPCR DG

Social protection can douse economic crisis – IPCR DG

By Sarafina Christopher

Abuja, June 19, 2024 (NAN) Dr Joseph Ochogwu, the Director-General, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), has described social protection as a policy instrument with the potency to douse socio-economic crisis in the country.

Ochogwu made the description on Wednesday in Abuja at a conference on “Social Protection and Economic Uncertainties in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Societies”.

The conference was organised by  Conflict Research Network (CORN) West Africa, a knowledge platform for research on conflicts, political violence, and peacebuilding in the sub-region.

The director-general of IPCR said since 2015, social protection “has become an important policy instrument used by the Federal Government” to tackle inequality nationwide.

“We have studied some strategic conflict assessments of Nigeria and several other studies which have identified poverty and unemployment as the major drivers of conflict across the country,” he said.

He added that there is a wide gap between policies and their actual implementation.

“We have embarked on this conference journey because we believe that we will go further to showcase social protection as a policy that requires much more empirical information to inform policy and practice.

“There is no doubt that there are obvious gaps in the implementation of social protection, depending on the population category we are targeting alongside,” he said.

In her remarks, Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria, reiterated the global body’s commitment to supporting the most vulnerable groups in Nigeria.

“Our work in this country reflects our dedication to supporting the most vulnerable, particularly in conflict-affected regions.

“We strive to ensure that these children receive the protection, education, healthcare, and nutrition they need through government-led social protection systems.

“We must address the pressing issue of economic uncertainty in fragile and conflict-affected societies and support the government in defining social protection measures relevant to the needs of the citizens; the financial hardships families face in such regions exacerbate the already daunting challenges,” she said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng) 

SAF/YEE

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(Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)