Fides Media Living the Faith
By Chioma Ndife
The Anambra State Community and Social Development Agency (ANCSDA) has kicked-off the orientation and enrollment of Labour-Intensive Public Workfare (LIPW) beneficiaries across the 21 LGAs in the state under the Anambra State COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (AN-CARES) Programme.
The LIPW was one of the components of AN-CARES Programme being implemented in the State by ANCSDA.
Fides gathered that the objective of the LIPW was to provide immediate employment opportunities in the social sector to address the emergency constraints of loss of labour-income among the poor and vulnerable households as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his opening remarks, the General manager of ANCSDA, Mr Chudi Mojekwu, noted that the criteria for selection of beneficiaries were unemployed youth and women selected from the State Social Register (SSR) whose age must be between 18 and 45 years and with education qualification of SSCE or below.
He disclosed that part of the duties of LIPW beneficiaries were: to diligently perform the assigned work at least 4 hours daily and 5 days a week, work harmoniously with the leader and other members of the team to achieve the objective of the programme; to attend and actively participate in Life skill trainings on designated days among others.
Speaking at the event, Mrs Chiamaka Nnake, disclosed that the targets of LIPW in the state were the unemployed and unskilled youths and women with education qualification of SSCE or below, who, according to her, had lost labour-income owing to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. She disclosed that the LIPW was in line with the Transformation Agenda of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
‘It is part of the ”Soludo Solution”, a solution that is fundamentally focused on creating a prosperous future for the youths, empowering them to function and be productive.
Nnake who was represented by the Head of Anambra State CARES Coordinating Unit, Mr. Prince Obidike, noted that since the primary needs of the youths were jobs, the Soludo Administration was setting aside over sixty-five million Naira as initial grants to be transferred to deserving youths and women under the LIPW.
Other highlights of the event were the orientation and enrollment of the LIPW beneficiaries which involved the registration, and data-capturing by the Payment Service Providers (PSP) which was the paying bank for the LIPW.
Speaking on-behalf of the other beneficiaries, Mrs Evelyn Okeke, thanked the state government, the ministry and the agency, for bringing the LIPW that would help to create jobs and better the condition of the youths and unemployed across the state, and pledged that they would ensure commitment to achieve the objective of LIPW in their different localities.