Feb. 25, 2022

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says more than 800,000 million dollars (N332 million) is in the kitty for 500 participants of its special skills acquisition programme in Nigeria.

Its Team Lead, Governance, Peace and Security in Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Alao, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ado-Ekiti.

Alao spoke shortly after the graduation ceremony of 200 beneficiaries of UNDP’s skill acquisition programme for women, youth and victims of violence in Ekiti.

He said that under the organisation’s Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Programmes, 100 beneficiaries were drawn from Kaduna, 200 in Ekiti, and 200 in Osun, all who were trained in various trades.

“On the monetary term, the general budget for this programme for 500 beneficiaries in the three states in Nigeria, that is Kaduna, Ekiti and Osun States, is more than N332,000,000($800,000).

“These include, the identification, selection, two weeks orientation, placement for six months training for basic skills in diverse trades, and procurement of sophisticated equipment.

“This programme is aimed at making the beneficiaries comfortable till the end of their lives” Alao said.

He, however, added that the programme was actually targeted at victims of violence and crises in their respective areas.

He highlighted the criteria for their selection to include, whether the beneficiary had actually been a victim of violence, whether the person is not a student of any school, and youth between a substantive age bracket, while the screening team also scrutinized .

He explained that nobody, politically influence the selection of beneficiaries.(NAN)