The Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) is a joint Federal Government, State and World Bank Project, it is a scaled up project of the pilot Community – Based Poverty Reduction Project (CPRP) and Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Project (LEEMP). In Yobe State CPRP was piloted from year 2001 to 2008 during which 838 micro projects worth ₦1.7 Billion were executed, covering sectors like water and sanitation, education, health e.t.c. These projects were at closure in March 2009 benefitting about 1.4 Million people across the State.
Following the success of CPRP and LEEMP in delivering social services to the poor people, CSDP came up as a scaled up project. CSDP is therefore an intervention built on the CPRP and LEEMP successes and structures to effectively target socio — economic and natural resources infrastructure services at the community level as well as improved Local Government Council responsibility to service delivery.
CSDP is a five years project financed through the World Bank IDA credit and annual State Government contribution of ₦100 Million while benefitting communities pay 10 percent of the total cost of their identified micro project in cash, kind, material or any combination thereof and implement it. CSDP became effective on 1st April, 2009 and currently being implemented in 25 States of the Federation plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The CSDP in Yobe State has already made tremendous impact because of the strong support it enjoys from the State Government and good people of the State.
The Yobe CSDP on behalf of the board, management and good people of Yobe State wishes to register its appreciation for the strong support and payment of the sum of ₦300 Million as Government contribution to the activities of Yobe CSDP, thereby bring the total Government contribution to ₦400 Million placing the State among the first list of States that have fully paid all their commitments. This development has not come as a surprise to the Agency nor the good people of Yobe State considering the poverty focused program of the Government of His Excellency the Executive Governor of Yobe State Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam FNCA, CPA and his Deputy Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu FNSE which lays great premium on the empowerment of our rural communities and provision of basic social services all across Yobe State. As a result of the strong support given to CSDP by the Government and encouragement to the rural communities, the Agency has become as household name and poor man’s first place of call in Yobe State.
This is to say that the Community and Social Development Project is building on the good lessons learnt during the pilot phase of CPRP and LEEMP to achieve sustainable increase access of poor people to improved social and natural resources infrastructure services using the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach. With current level of support from the Government and the people, the Agency is determined that in the next one or two years, virtually all communities in the 17 LGAs will boost of more social and natural resource infrastructure services like water and sanitation, education facilities, health care, feeder roads, culverts and drainages, skills acquisition centre and woodlot among others.
The Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) from inception on 1st April, 2009 and to-date has approved 85 Community Development Plans (CDPs) containing 285 micro-projects worth ₦705,281,586.35 covering various sectors. Out of these number 109 micro projects has been completed and in use, benefitting about 413,550 people directly, while 73 micro projects are at various levels of implementation. In those benefitting communities this 109 completed micro projects have reduced distance to water points from 0.66km to 0.24km and increase number of people having access to water facility from 40% to 90%, increase education enrolment in primary school for male from 41.63 to 184 while for female from 29.75 to174.8 and for secondary school male enrolment from 185 to 347.7.
The Agency has no doubt in its mind that with the current level of support both on the part of government strongly emphasized in the 2012 Budget and contribution of ₦300 Million and our good rural communities, poverty will certainly be brought down to the bearest minimum possible and the objective of government in providing social service particularly water to every household in the State will be achieved sooner than later.
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