Department for social protection has embarked on a programme to educate beneficiaries of Inua jamii cash transfer on how to responsibly use stipend given by the government.
Officials of the department have rolled out a programme where all beneficiaries will get financial literacy to help them save part of the money for future use.
Head of Social Assistance Unit (SAU) Mr. John Gachigi said currently the beneficiaries consume all the money they get.
The spirit to save, Gachigi noted will help the beneficiaries to invest in small scale projects which will help them get more income.
Speaking in Murang’a during a stakeholders’ workshop on financial literacy validation, Gachigi underscored the need to avail financial literacy to all beneficiaries for them to understand the importance of the money they are getting.
He said the department has already developed financial literacy tools which they will present to beneficiaries at the grassroots and validate them to ensure they will be of impact.
The tools, he said are communication messages aimed to nudge beneficiaries have behavioral changes in saving.
“We want to ensure our beneficiaries move from consumption of all the money given and change mindset and start saving part of the stipend given and with time invest the savings to generate more money,” said Gachigi saying this move will remove the dependency syndrome.
Speaking during the same occasion Head of Social Protection Secretariat Ms. Cecilia Mbaka said that department intend to introduce a social single registry for poor and vulnerable households in the country.
The social registry will involve mapping the poor and vulnerable and having them in data base and their poverty characteristics so that they can easily be accessed for assistance.
Mbaka noted that the programme will be implemented under the Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project (KSEIP) which is funded by the government in partnership with the World Bank.
“The social registry will help organizations targeting to support the poor by easily accessing the persons in need from our department,” she noted.
She observed the beneficiaries from some counties will get additional Sh. 500 to enable them venture into small scale enterprises.
“The top up amount will go to some beneficiaries selected from five counties including Kisumu, Murang’a, Isiolo, Makueni and Marsabit,” said Mbaka.
In the Programme, Mbaka noted that they will also do a top up amount to beneficiaries from the counties with high rate of malnutrition.
The counties which are targeted for nutrition inclusion will include, Turkana, Kilifi, Marsabit, West Pokot and Kitui.
She said currently they are doing ground work for the project which commenced in March and will run up to 2020.
Currently the government gives stipend to 1, 233, 000 beneficiaries and the number is expected to go up by end of 2019.
Ideas 42 Organization Project Manager Ms. Slyvia Kezengwa said they are working with the government to impact behavioral to beneficiaries of Inua Jamii cash transfer.
She noted that more is needed to ensure the beneficiaries use the little they get responsibly and especially in uplifting their social welfare.
“As an organization we will continue supporting the government to ensure the beneficiaries get value for the money they get by avoiding waste,” added Kezengwa.
By Bernard Munyao
Monday, December 30, 2024
Information For Development
