The Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity–Governance (HOPE-GOV) Programme is set to incentivise states.
The aim is to institutionalise reforms in budgeting and expenditure management in basic education and primary healthcare.
The National Coordinator of the Programme, Dr Assad Hassan, said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
Hassan said this during an implementation coordination visit by the National Programme Coordination Unit (NPCU) to the Ministerial Oversight Committee Secretariat of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) in Abuja.
“For us, it is not just about dishing out the money; the scope of the programme is about reforms.
“Beyond the incentives, the health sector in particular will benefit from the reforms the programme is designed to achieve,” he said.
He said the visit was aimed at strengthening coordination with implementing agencies to support the achievement of Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs).
“From time to time, we engage to provide implementation support and coordination to ensure that implementing agencies are able to achieve their results.
“It is the vision of the NPCU for all agencies to qualify for the incentives attached to the programme,”Hassan said.
The national coordinator said the first coordination meeting with state HOPE-GOV focal persons would hold soon, while Independent Verification Agents were being considered to assess first-year results ahead of disbursement.
In a presentation, the HOPE-GOV Programme Officer, Mr Jamil Abdallah, said the 500 million dollar World Bank-assisted programme was structured as a Programme for Results.
“Four hundred and eighty million dollars is for implementing agencies and states, while 20 million dollars is for programme coordination, technical assistance, verification of results, and monitoring and evaluation,” he said.
Abdallah said disbursement would be based on improved financing for education and healthcare, enhanced transparency and accountability, and better recruitment and performance management of teachers and primary healthcare workers.
He added that all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had signed on to participate in the programme.
Also speaking, the Acting Secretary of the BHCPF Secretariat, Dr Aishatu Bajoga, pledged the committee’s support for the programme’s objectives, saying “we are ready to work together”.