NEMA expands relief response with new cash transfer programme

The Director General of NEMA, Mr. Mustapha Maihaja, has said that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has adopted cash transfer as one of the strategic ways of reaching out to disaster victims. He made this disclosure at a Cash Transfer Preparedness Programme organized for the staff of the agency and the Nigerian Red Cross by the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) in Abuja. The training covered various thematic areas including methods of ascertaining pre-conditions for cash transfer, modalities of cash transfer mechanisms, types of response of options, implementation process and practical scenarios. According to the Director General the decision to adopt the cash transfer was informed by the desire to align relief response operations and transparency protocols with emerging global best practices. He said that this had become necessary due to the growing complexity of the humanitarian and relief management scene in Nigeria as a result of a multiple emergencies. The Cash Transfer Programme is a tool for transferring funds to support populations affected by disasters thereby enabling them to meet multiple needs in ways that maintain human dignity, provide access to food and shelter, and help rebuild or protect livelihoods. Mr. Maihaja, who was represented by Director of Relief and Rehabilitation, Kayode Fagbemi, the DG expressed the conviction that the adoption of cash transfers would herald a paradigm shift in the management of relief operations in Nigeria and aid the restoration of the human dignity of displaced persons.