By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) have urged the Lagos State government to consider converting its social protection policy to a law in the interest of the vulnerable.
The group comprising the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), the LEAP Africa, the Lagos State Civil Society Partnership for Development (LACSOP), the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), and Women Liberation and Transformation Group (WLIT) had in a two-day meeting held at Ikeja Lagos, reviewed the effective mechanism for promoting accountability for social protection in Lagos.
The aim of the review meeting, which was organized with the support of the European Union Delegation (EUD) Agents for Citizens-driven Transformation (ACT) programme, and managed by the British Council, was to bring together civil society organizations including women groups, and persons with disabilities (PWDs) to discuss and review their fieldwork experiences with the Technical Working Group (TWG) and other key stakeholders on the implementation of the Lagos State Social Protection Policy.
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The ultimate aim was to build the capacity of key stakeholders and come up with plans of action for promoting citizens’ involvement in the fight against corruption and the effort to ensure accountability in Lagos State’s social protection policy.
The group posited that by converting the policy to law, the government could set up an independent agency to implement initiatives beyond the lifespan of any particular administration.
The group opined that the level of social awareness of the government’s social protection policy appears to be low, adding that a social protection policy law would empower an agency to improve its visibility.
The consortium is made up of Lagos State Civil Society Participation for Development (LACSOP); LEAP Africa; Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), and Women Liberation and Transformation Group (W-LIT) and the support of the European Union Delegation (EUD) Agents for Citizens-driven Transformation (ACT) programme, managed by the British Council.
The Lagos State Social Protection Policy aims “to establish a framework that is gender-sensitive and age-appropriate and inclusive of persons with disability to ensure a minimum social floor for all Lagos residents for a life of dignity”
The consortium published its findings in the Lagos State Social Protection Policy Review & Multi-Year Budget Analysis Report prepared by Dede Kadiri and Ayo Adebusoye.
The report was presented by a SERAP Senior Programme Officer, Mr Temitayo Omoju.
According to the organisers, the report is the first-ever analysis of social protection intervention in Lagos State and is also one of the early efforts to identify the critical implementation gaps and make visible the barriers that have hindered a robust implementation.
It is also aimed at providing the information needed to initiate and drive a citizens-led accountability mechanism for holding government to account for social protection.”
The group said, “the report shows that all cohorts interviewed perceive that level of social awareness is perceived to be low.”
Other recommendations include that there should be “an intentional effort to work with CSOs to coordinate, assess and inform key activities. CSO will be instrumental in accessing hard-to-reach communities, verifying targeted beneficiaries and measuring the outcome and impact of interventions.
“This study can be applied as a baseline tool as social protection continues to emerge in Lagos State.
“CSOs need to closely monitor spending from LASODA to promote inclusion of PWDs in social protection intervention. There is an opportunity for the SPCD of the EP to add value to LASODA’s annual spending and check the deliverables against the SP MEAL Plan.
“Given the magnitude of the workload to be delivered, social protection law should be passed for an agency to be given the autonomy to implement initiatives beyond the lifespan of any particular administration.”