The Christian Aid has said that it spent $1m to support the indigents in Benue, Borno and Kaduna states to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 on the people in the states.
The Christian Aid’s Nigeria Country Director, Charles Usie, told reporters on Friday in Abuja that the spending or investments was for a period of six months to cover important projects and that what has been spent so far in three months amount to the $1m or N500m equivalent.
Giving the breakdown of some of the interventions, Usie said that there was cash distribution to 2,415 households comprising 740 in Benue (740), 1080 in Borno and 595 in Kaduna in August.
“There was also the distribution of Non-Food Item (NFI) to 3715 households with 1087 in Benue, 1326 in Borno and 1302 in Kaduna,” he said.
He added that there was the procurement of additional NFIS and PPE for community beneficiaries and health facilities respectively in Benue and Kaduna states to be distributed in September.
According to him, the organisation carried out community sensitisation on sanitation and hygiene practices; completed engagement of traditional and religion leaders for community mentoring and population sensitisation across 54 communities of Benue, Borno and Kaduna states.
The Christian Aid boss said that borehole water points renovation has been completed in the three states with a total of 87 water points renovated and 10 new one drilled.
“Some of the new boreholes would be completed this week in Benue and Borno states. We also have 48 Community Protection and Health Committees (CPHC) that received refresher training on GBV with three reported cases and referrals to state GBV centres recorded since the training,” he said.
He said that 720 Community influencers across Benue, Kaduna and Borno states were trained on COVID-19 WASH; while water points repair and maintenance for increased hygiene practices and environmental sanitation was also carried out.
He said that fumigation of public places was done working with the state emergency operations center (EOC) locations which included local isolation centres, primary health facilities, traditional palaces, worship centres and market places.
When asked on the reason for the selection of the three states among others equally needing intervention and support, he said that their choice was capitalise on structures and relationships that have been built over time rather than focus on new areas where there would be need to set up new structures and system from the scratch.
He added that the three states also fit into the expectations of the people that provided the funding for the projects, especially the British Government.
