Cross River Uses Social Register For Distribution Of Relief Materials

The Cross River State Government has adopted the Single Social Register for Conditional Cash Transfer and distribution of relief materials to the vulnerable in the state following the stay at home order.

Dr Inyang Asibong, the State Commissioner for International Development Cooperation, disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar.

Asibong said that the state was collaborating with the Federal Government to facilitate the Conditional Cash Transfer as announced by the Presidency.

She explained that it would be through the Single Register for Poor and Vulnerable Households (SRPVH) commonly known as the Single Social Register.

She said that the state government also started the identification of poor and vulnerable households across the state through the SRPVH as they prepare for a statewide distribution of relief materials.

“The very detailed and updated register is a measure by Gov. Ben Ayade to ensure that every household, irrespective of their location, is catered for, especially during this stay at home order.

“The households will be considered as first priority as the state prepares to send food items and other relief materials like nose masks, hand sanitizers and wash buckets to ensure strict compliance with the order and thus flatten the curve of the Covid-19 spread,” she said.

The Commissioner is also working with the State Chairman of the COVID- 19 Welfare Committee, Mrs Blessing Egbara, who is also the state Commissioner for Humanities and Social Welfare.

Her office is also working with Mr Okon Owuna, Commissioner for Agriculture and the Chairman COVID- 19 Food Supplies Committee and Director General of the State Food Bank Commission, Dr Mercy Akpama to deliver on the mandate.

She told NAN that the Register is periodically updated by the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU), which is domiciled in the State Ministry of International Development Cooperation.