No fewer than 169 individuals from vulnerable households were, on Friday, trained in Benin to benefit from the Nigeria CARES (COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) grant in Edo.
Mrs Ifueko Alufohai, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Humanitarian Affairs, stated this during a one-day livelihood support training and orientation, organised by the State Cash Transfer Unit (SCTU).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the grant is codenamed EDO-CARES.
Alufohai explained that the beneficiaries would be given grants ranging from N20,000 to N200,000.
The permanent secretary noted that the N-CARES was a World Bank-funded emergency relief programme, put in place to ameliorate the adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on livelihoods, especially the operators of businesses in the informal sector.
The Head, State Cash Transfer Unit, Flora Bossey, in her address of welcome, said that the programme was designed for economically-active youths and women.
Bossey said: “This programme is Disbursement Linked Indicator (DLI 1.3), under the EDO-CARES livelihood support programme, one of the 11 DLI being supported by the state government.
“The programme is taking place in two pilot local government areas of Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha in the state.
“The beneficiaries were selected from the state social register for the poor and vulnerable households.”
She said that the state government had made it possible for the beneficiaries to receive grants to improve their businesses that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The training, according to her, is the first round of livelihood and soft skills, aimed at supporting their businesses before the grants would be disbursed.
Mrs Precious Osunde, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, commended the state government for the kind gesture and promised to expand her business with the grant. (NAN)