By Augustine Kickugame Koroma
The Deputy Commissioner, National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), Madam Isata Hannah-Kyne, has impressively talked the nation through her commission’s activities, while laying specific emphasis on the Social Safety Network Project.
The deputy commissioner, who was a guest on the 98.1 ‘Good Morning Salone’ program on Thursday October 17, began by cataloguing a wide range of projects that the commission is currently dealing with or focusing on.
She stated that the commission is focused on a quintet of crucial social project domains: social safety network, community driven projects, disability project and projects dealing with reparation and resettlement of refugees or internally displaced persons.
All of these projects, according to the astute and dynamic deputy commissioner, have been carried out to the satisfaction of donor partners and with a view to achieving the New Direction’s vision.
NaCSA, in the words of Madam Kyne, is transitioning from relief centered efforts to social development after the brutal civil war that shattered the country’s social infrastructure.
Madam Kyne went on to say that projects have been designed to addresss the pressing needs of rural communities, and that such steps include the electrification of rural areas, construction of markets and stores and the employment of youths.
These, according to her, will help reverse the trend of young men and women gravitating towards cities to hanker for opportunities which are lacking in rural areas.
On the general operations of the commission, the deputy commissioner said that NaCSA has regional and district offices manned by committed professionals, and that the commission attracts support from both the government and donor partners for the implementation of projects.
Madam Kyne further said that the commission has a procurement committee which meets at specific times for the award of contracts and that various experts sit on the committee to have their say on issues that relate to their fields.
Added to this committee the commission, according to the hardworking deputy commissioner, is always guided by national procurement principles and that donor procurement procedures are also inevitably coopted.
Answering questions on the sometimes sheer abandonment of completed structures by community people, Madam Kyne said the commission always undertakes needs assessments of various communities before projects are implemented and that such projects once completed, are handed over to the communities.
She maintained that the new administration is trying to know why such projects were and are still underutilized.
On the important issue of social safety network, the deputy commissioner stated that the commission has been instrumental in developing a national social strategy and that with the thirty million dollar support from the World Bank through the intervention of President Bio, some 28 thousand jobs covering a little over a thousand households have been created.
Madam Kyne explained that the new phase of the project will capture all the 16 districts, with the commission embarking on unconditional cash transfers, intensive training, consolidation of partnership with the ACC, strengthening of grievance redress mechanism, building of schools and training of beneficiaries, as well as developing agriculture value chain through the construction of feeder roads and grain stores in line with the New Direction’s flagship program and its food security drive.
The astute commissioner ended by saying that the commission continues to woo international donor partners with its effectiveness and efficiency, and noted the support received from the German government for employment as well as the development of a national strategic plan spanning between 2019 and 2024.
Madam Kyne promised not to rest until the commission’s dreams or targets are realized or met.
Deputy NaCSA Commissioner Showcases Achievements
