The Oyo state government has revealed plans to dole out N10,000 to 3,300 vulnerable households as part of the Oyo State Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (OY-CARES) phase 3.
Mr. Akintunde Gbadamosi, the State Coordinator of the Cash Transfer Unit, shared details during a one-day orientation training for the third batch of social transfer facilitators of OY-CARES across the 33 Local Government areas in the state.
According to him, beneficiaries, selected from all 33 LGAs based on data from the State Operation Coordinating Unit (SOCU), will receive a monthly cash transfer of N10,000 during the 3rd phase of the program after facilitator training.
The data from SOCU includes various disadvantaged and vulnerable categories like the aged, chronically ill, physically challenged, urban poor, and widows. Gbadamosi clarified that OY-CARES, an emergency operation from the Federal Government, localized by the state, aims to support budgeted programs and interventions at the state level.
Furthermore, the program targets both existing and new vulnerable and poor households in the agricultural value chain, as well as Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) impacted by the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He stated,
- “The sum of N10,000 per month is awarded to be given for a year to the social transfer component beneficiaries to aid their consumption and reduce stress. The transfer, which is card-based, will be paid N20,000 bi-monthly”
Structure of the program
The coordinator emphasized that the OY-CARES program is scheduled to run for a duration of two years (2022-2024) and is being executed utilizing existing structures at both the State and Federal Government levels, without establishing any additional project implementation frameworks.
Gbadamosi highlighted that in the initial phase, the Oyo State Government identified 1,755 beneficiaries from 18 LGAs, followed by 1,755 beneficiaries from 15 LGAs in the second phase. For the third phase, a total of 3,300 beneficiaries from all 33 LGAs are included on the cash transfer platform, managed through Social Transfer (ST) channels.
