NASSCO (National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office) Nigeria was originally established as a core strategy to help end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity among citizens. The program was established in 2016 by the Government of Nigeria in partnership with the World Bank.
The core mandate of this program is to lay a strong foundation of thorough and reliable evidence of vulnerable and poor households by building what is known as the NSR (National Social Register). They also are to coordinate, refine and integrate the social safety-net programs into social protection systems while ensuring policy coherence.
NASSCO
NASSCO (National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office) Nigeria is part of a broader social protection system comprising of non-contributory transfers in kind or cash designed to provide support for the poor and vulnerable. Some of the key roles they perform is helping alleviate
- Poverty
- Malnutrition
- And Food insecurities
They can be said to contribute by reducing inequality and boosting shared prosperity, building human capital and connecting people to job opportunities and supporting households in coping with shocks hence making the country a better place.
Nigerian Flagship Programs targeted at Helping the Poor and Vulnerable
Below is a list of some of the Nigerian flagship programs targeted at helping the poor and vulnerable households.
- National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO). Their aim is to implement cash transfers to targeted vulnerable households
- Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operations (YESSO). Their aim is to support vulnerable youth with life skill training, reorientation and grants
- Last but not least Community and Social Development Project (CSDP). Their aim is to provide grants to boost the development agenda of vulnerable communities.
NOTE; all of these programs were encapsulated in the Government of Nigeria National Society Safety Nets Project (NASSP).
NASSCO Objectives Broken Down
The objectives of the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office Nigeria can be broken into three simple steps.
- Integrating, harmonizing and coordinating social safety nets program
- Provide guidance on the framework for administration and management systems for supporting the poor and vulnerable
- Lastly, ensuring policy coherence in the social protection sector.
With these simple objectives, the government hopes to achieve poverty alleviation and shared prosperity.
Covid-19 Payments
If you are qualified, the National Cash Transfer Programme (NCTO) which is also known as Household Uplifting Programme (HUP) has issued payments to citizens as part of covid 19 support funds. If you haven’t received it yet, you may receive it soon or maybe not. It all depends on whether or not you are enrolled in the program.
The Programme (NCTO) is designed to deliver timely and accessible cash transfers to beneficiary households and sets to support development objectives and priorities to achieve specific outcomes. Below are some of the outcomes.
- Improve household consumption
- Improve school enrollment and attendance
- Increase in utilization of health and nutrition services
- Improve environmental sanitation and management
- Encourage beneficiaries in sustainable livelihood
- Encourage household financial and asset acquisition
Below is how you can apply.
How to Apply/Enroll – How to Apply Now
Application for Enrollment for the Covid 19 payments is automatic. The beneficiaries of this programme are collected from the National Social Register (NSR), comprising State Social Registers (SR) of poor and vulnerable households.
Note; the State Social Registers are being developed with the training, supervision and guidance from the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office in Abuja.
