By Marie-Therese Nanlong

Plateau State Deputy Governor, Professor Sonni Tyoden has reiterated the commitment of the State government to empower rural people and build capacity to end poverty in the State.

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Tyoden gave the commitment in Jos while receiving the National Coordinator, Federal Project Support Unit, Abuja, Dr. AbdulKarim Obaje who was on a working visit to the State.

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He noted that the tag of Nigeria being the poverty capital of the world should not be discouraging but rather spur every stakeholder to action to ensure the negative situation is reversed and the citizens empowered to be self sufficient.

Obaje who was in the State to assess its performance in the implementation of the Community Driven Development, CDD facilitated by the State Community and Social Development Project, CSDP told the Deputy Governor that the State is rated high for the steps taken towards the implementation of projects in the State and urged the state government to step up more efforts toward the sensitization of communities to embrace the project.

He equally addressed participants at the Local Government Review Committee who are undergoing a review meeting on the replication of Community Driven Development, for the 11 participating Local Government Areas and visited project sites in Jos East local government area of the State.

Addressing the participants, he explained that the (CDD) project which is a development initiative of federal government with the support from the World Bank was conceived to provide control of the development process, resources and decision making authority directly to groups in the communities.

Earlier, the General Manager, PLCSDA, Mrs. Felicity Gurumyen said the state government has fully embraced the project and with the consent of the local governments authorities approved N5m monthly for the period of six months to enable LGRC go round the state to sensitize the people and carry out small projects.

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Meanwhile, the facilitator , James Damulak who took the participants through the training tagged, “Development Strategy and Template for CDD Replication in Plateau State“, said, “CDD projects work by providing poor communities with direct funding for development with the communities then deciding how to spend the money. The community plans and builds the project and take responsibility for monitoring its progress.

“Community-driven development (CDD) programs operate on the principles of transparency, participation, accountability, and enhanced local capacity. Community-Driven Development is a popular aid delivery strategy that emphasizes community control over planning decisions and investment resources.”

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