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The Anambra State Government has disclosed that 29,214 poor and other vulnerable households in the state will benefit from the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Cash Transfer Programme to improve lives.
The Commissioner for Economic Planning, Budget and Development Partners, Mark Okoye, who made this disclosure in Awka yesterday during the stakeholders’ sensitisation on Rapid Response Register (RRR), stated that the measure was to cushion the effect of the pandemic across the state.
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The programme was organised by Anambra State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU), in collaboration with the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
Okoye, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Dan Ezeanwu, announced that nine local councils selected to benefit from the RRR programme include Anambra West, Ayamelum, Awka North, Dunukofia, Ekwusigo, Onitsha South, Ogbaru, Oyi and Orumba North.
He said: ‘The RRR will be used to implement a cash transfer programme to a total of 29,214 poor, vulnerable households from urban and semi-urban wards of Anambra for an initial period of six months. The selection is based on the scientific method of Satellite Remote Sensing Technology (SRST), Machine Learning (ML), Algorithm and Big Data Analysis, which provided the basis for ranking the wards according to poverty index and availability of resources.
‘This is followed by digital identification using the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) link of telecommunications facility by dialling a unique code to access the application portal. The identification exercise will be followed by enumeration and validation exercises.’
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