A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Save the Children International (SCI), says that investing in social protection would assist in improving Nigeria’s Human Development Index (HDI).
Mr Ifedilichukwu Ekene-Innocent, the Advocacy, Campaign and Policy Manager of SCI, said this in Kano on Tuesday.
He spoke at the ongoing three-day training on Social Protection Budget and Expenditure Tracking for CSOs and the media organised by SCI and Action Against Hunger (ACF).
The workshop was organised by the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)-funded Child Development Grant Programme (CDGP), being implemented by SCI and ACF in Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and Zamfara states.
He described the human development index as a measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.
He pointed out that Nigeria’s 2019 HDI value of 0.539 had put the country in the low human development category, placing it at 161 out of 189 countries.
Ekene-Innocent said that Nigeria’s HDI value increased minimally by 15.9 per cent from 0.465 to 0.539 between 2005 and 2019.
According to him, investing in social protection will significantly improve the country’s low human capital development index.
“Social protection consists of policies and programmes designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labour markets, diminishing people’s exposure to risks, and enhancing their capacity to manage economic and social risks.
“It represents an investment in a country’s human infrastructure because only a population that is healthy, well-nourished and well educated can realise its potential for productive employment.
“A well-designed and funded social protection system will, therefore, enable a country to unlock its full productive potential and to promote inclusive growth.”
Ekene-Innocent called on the federal and state governments to increase investment in social protection to improve the general wellbeing of the people.
According to him, the human working environment is changing due to advancement in technology. Human capital development is key to facilitating the technology-driven labour market.
He said that investing in social protection to cover everyone in communities would provide the needed environment for people to thrive and contribute to socio-economic and national development.
The official urged CSOs and the media to engage the government and push for increased investment in social protection.
He, however, advised that consideration should be accorded to the government’s financial wellbeing and the flexibility in its spending choices.
“While advocating the government for increased funding, CSOs and media should also pay attention to the amount of money available to the government to spend above what was being spent on public services,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that participants were drawn from CSOs and media organisations of the various social protection platforms in Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and Zamfara states.
The training is part of efforts to strengthen the capacity of the CSOs and media to demand accountability from state actors. (NAN)
