UNICEF donates ICT equipment to Sokoto for social protection

The United Nations Children’s Fund has donated Information and Communication Technology equipment to the Sokoto State Operations Coordinating Unit to support social protection activities.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that UNICEF is one of the UN agencies implementing the European Union-funded Sustainable and Inclusive Social Protection (EU-SUSI) Project in Nigeria.

Presenting the items on Saturday in Sokoto, UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Mr Michel Juma, said the gesture was aimed at strengthening and ensuring a functional National Social Register for identifying and supporting more poor and vulnerable persons.

Juma reaffirmed UNICEF’s commitment to sustaining partnerships that would expand access to both federal and state-managed social protection programmes for vulnerable households.

UNICEF’s Social Policy Specialist, Mr Ibrahim Isa, said the EU-SUSI project targets the enrollment of one million poor and vulnerable households across four states — Abia, Benue, Oyo, and Sokoto.

He explained that each state is expected to contribute 250,000 households to the register before the end of 2025.

“In Sokoto alone, UNICEF aims to cover 3,041 previously unlisted communities, in addition to the 877,047 households already captured in the national register.

To support this effort, UNICEF is providing 200 tablets, 200 power banks, three laptops, and other logistics to facilitate smooth operations,” Isa said.

Responding, the State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Zayyana Abubakar, appreciated UNICEF for the support and reiterated the state government’s commitment to strengthening social protection through various initiatives.

He highlighted ongoing efforts such as monthly cash transfers to persons with disabilities across the 23 local government areas, school feeding programmes, pension payments, health insurance coverage, and support for retired civil servants.

Abubakar said the donation would help expand the state’s social protection coverage to reach more vulnerable households.

He also disclosed that Sokoto State had recently conducted its own Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) survey to provide updated data, following concerns over the methodology used in the 2022 national survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The commissioner commended stakeholders for their active participation, noting that their contributions were invaluable in shaping policies to support poor and vulnerable populations.

UNICEF on September 30, 2025, also announced plans to vaccinate no fewer than 7.8 million children between the ages of nine months and 14 years against measles and rubella in Kano State.

Chief of UNICEF Field Office Kano, Rahama Farah, disclosed this during a Media Dialogue, Orientation and Mobilisation Session on the Integrated Measles-Rubella Polio Vaccination Campaign held in Kano.

He explained that the campaign, scheduled to begin on October 25, would also target 2.3 million children under five years old for polio vaccination.

NAN