FG adopts unified system to tackle poverty, humanitarian response
The Federal Government has adopted a new national framework aimed at harmonising humanitarian interventions and accelerating poverty reduction across the country. The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard M. Doro, announced the decision at the close of a four-day National Technical Workshop on the One Humanitarian–One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS) held in Abuja. […]
The Federal Government has adopted a new national framework aimed at harmonising humanitarian interventions and accelerating poverty reduction across the country.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard M. Doro, announced the decision at the close of a four-day National Technical Workshop on the One Humanitarian–One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS) held in Abuja.
Describing the move as a major policy shift, the minister said the new system would address longstanding inefficiencies caused by fragmented interventions.
“Today marks a defining moment in our journey towards reforming humanitarian interventions and reducing poverty at scale,” he said.
He explained that despite multiple interventions over the years, the lack of coordination had limited impact.
“For too long, our systems have been fragmented across institutions, duplicated across programmes, and disconnected across data and financing systems,” he stated.
The minister said the newly adopted OHOPRS framework would serve as a unified national platform for coordinating humanitarian action, social protection and poverty reduction efforts.
“OHOPRS is not another programme. It is intended as a national operating system,” he added.
He stressed that the reform would shift the country’s approach from short-term assistance to long-term outcomes, noting: “We are moving from helping Nigerians survive to enabling them to thrive.”
Doro warned that failure to act would perpetuate inefficiencies, saying current approaches often result in repeated interventions without sustainable progress.
“It is not that support is not reaching people. It is that our systems are not designed to move people from survival to self-reliance,” he said.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Olubunmi Olusanya, said the reform became necessary after the ministry observed that existing social protection programmes were operating in silos.
“Before now, there were several social protection programs operating across the country. However, we discovered that many of them functioned in isolation, and their benefits were not clearly visible to NGOs or stakeholders,” she said.
“To address this, we developed a program called ‘One Ministry, One Poverty-Reduction Response System.’ This initiative is designed to harmonize all social safety-net programs so that interventions are properly coordinated and transparent.”
Olusanya also disclosed that efforts were ongoing to strengthen the National Social Register to improve transparency and accountability in beneficiary identification.
“The social register is designed to capture all vulnerable groups in a transparent and accountable manner. Previously, many beneficiaries were recorded without their National Identification Number (NIN). We are now revalidating and updating the register to ensure that every beneficiary has a verified NIN,” she said.
According to her, registration is being carried out at the local government level in collaboration with relevant agencies and community leaders.
“We are working closely with NIMC to capture the NINs of IDPs, even though they are often mobile due to insecurity. Our officers are stationed across all LGAs to register vulnerable individuals, and we collaborate with local community leaders who know their people best,” she added.
She noted that internal quality control mechanisms had been introduced to prevent abuse of the system and ensure that only the most vulnerable are captured.
A communiqué issued at the end of the workshop stated that participants endorsed OHOPRS as a unified, data-driven platform designed to integrate humanitarian response, social protection and development interventions.
The document noted that the initiative would eliminate duplication, enhance efficiency, and provide a structured pathway for individuals and households to exit poverty sustainably.
It added that key features of the system include a unified national beneficiary register, a lifecycle-based intervention tracking system, and coordinated governance mechanisms across institutions.
Participants also emphasised the need for sustainable financing, improved data governance, and stronger collaboration among federal, state and local governments, development partners and other stakeholders.
The workshop, held at the UN House in Abuja from March 24 to 27, brought together representatives of government, development partners, civil society organisations and technical experts to deliberate on the framework and its implementation.
The communiqué concluded that the OHOPRS framework represents “a paradigm shift from fragmented interventions to a coordinated national system capable of delivering measurable and sustainable impact.”