The Ogun State Government says it is bracing up for more impactful livelihood support for households, community micro projects and farmers through the second phase of its $12million additional financing tagged NG-CARES 2.0.

To achieve this, the state government has convened a-three day technical training and capacity strengthening workshop for key staff and stakeholders across the delivery platforms of the initiative.

Declaring the workshop opened at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Secretary to Ogun State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi said the brainstorming sessions was borne out of renewed emphasis on strengthening institutional frameworks, enhancing delivery mechanisms and improving service delivery outcomes.

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Talabi who commended stakeholders for their remarkable contributions and services which has culminated into impacting over 150,000 beneficiaries across the state in the areas of health, education, water sanitation, Agricultural inputs for food security and support for Micro and Small businesses during the 1st phase of the Ogun Community Action Resilience & Economic Stimulus Programme (Ogun-CARES).

The SSG said “the government recognizes the critical role you have played in achieving these remarkable achievements yet our administration desires more impact of this programme on the people, especially the poor and vulnerable households.

That is why we are having these conversations to equip you for the next phase which we will measure by the impact achieved, this is where government attention lies. However, I assure you of His Excellency’s unflinching support to bring succour through this programme to our dear citizens of Ogun State.”

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor and the Head State CARES Coordinating Unit, Dr. Bayo Adenekan while giving an overview and achievements of Ogun-CARES, to date, said the initiative has supported 1,447 beneficiaries through the livelihood grants, engaged and paid stipends to over 2000 youths in public works.

He noted that a total of 125 Micro projects consisting 59 Community Development Plans across the 20 Local Governments Areas of the Stat have been completed in the area of health, education infrastructure, water sanitation, impacting a total of 96,280 beneficiaries among other successes recorded in the first phase.

He Informed that the achievements have been made possible through the disbursement-linked indicators which is an implementation framework that categorizes projects and interventions in line with the vision and ‘ISEYA’ Pillars of the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led government, as its implementation lies with the relevant Ministries, Departments&Agencies (MDAs) in the State.

Adenekan noted that the training was designed for diverse group of stakeholders, especially the Staff of Ogun CARES who play strategic operational roles in the program delivery including; Project Managers, Technical Officers, Monitoring and Evaluation Officers, Administrative and Procurement Officers, Accountants amongst others, saying the training is expected to contribute significantly to the delivery of inclusive, transparent and impactful services to people of the state, as directed by the Federal Cares Support Unit, Abuja in collaboration with the World Bank.

Facilitators took turn to train participants on different topics such as “Developing Improved Managerial and Supervisory Skills by Mr. Chike Ikechuwkwu, “Addressing Gender Based Violence” by Mrs. Busayo Odufejo and “Effective Administrative Strategies in Project Implementation” by Mrs. Adebukunola Oshilana, among others both within and external facilitators.