By Abbas Yushau Yusuf

On the 16^th of August 2020 representatives of Civil Society Organizations and the Media Converged in Dutse the Capital of Jigawa state and received  a three-day training on Palliative Post Disbursement Monitoring

 

 

Background

Nigeria is now home to the largest number of people living in extreme poverty of any country in the world (over 95 million people). According to World Bank data, the majority of poor households (87%) live in the north of the country.

In addition to monetary poverty, Nigeria also has the second-highest burden of chronic malnutrition (stunting) in the world, with 16.5 million children under five years old being too short for their age and Maternal mortality rates are also three times the national average.

 

In this regard, the CDGP implementing states are among the states that recorded the number of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.

 

In an attempt to prevent, the spread of the virus the both Federal and State Governments took some measures, which include social restrictions, and enforcement measures.

 

 

This was followed by a total lockdown that resulted in widespread desperation as most people who rely on daily income complained of their inability to feed their families since most people are daily income earners.

While these measures are critical to reducing the epidemiological impacts of the pandemic, they pose a serious threat to the livelihoods and survival of many families.

 

In most instances, the measures have led a total or partial loss of income especially among the poorest and most vulnerable.

In a view to mitigating the livelihood challenges posted by COVID – 19 pandemic, the states introduced palliative support distribution among vulnerable groups.

In view of the above context, the overall purpose of this activity is to ensure transparency and accountability in the palliative distribution in the state since Households already living below the poverty line are the most affected.

 

Also severely affected are the millions of Nigerians who depend on their daily earnings for survival. The CS and Media would like to ensure that the right people are targeted and reached with the distribution.

 

The Rationale for the Training

The following are the rationale for carrying out the activity:

• To equip the CS and media group knowledge on data collection skills to effectively monitor the distribution of palliatives.
• To strengthen the capacity of CS and Media on Research design and methodology required for an assessment
• To strengthen the capacity of CS and media groups in post disbursement tracking and monitoring of palliative.
• To increase citizenry participation in government interventions.
• To support the institutional capacity of CS and media to enable them to advocate for the transparency and accountability of government projects.
• To determine the level of awareness of the population on their right for the government palliatives

 

 

 

 

Objectives of the Training

The following are the objectives of carrying out post-distribution monitoring:

• To track and ascertain the receipt of palliative from Federal Government to Jigawa and Kano State Government.
• To determine what element of the palliative is to be monitored
• Determine how many LGA benefited from the palliatives and sample needed for monitoring.
• To have the Idea of CSO and Media, what question does the assessment want to answer?
• To track and know who the beneficiaries are in the state.
• To track the utilization of the palliative after distribution to the beneficiaries.

 

Participants

The participants for this activity are CS and Media of Kano States.

20  CSOs  and media representatives

 

 

DAY 1 Moderator: Mrs. Stella, Program Manager AAH Jigawa/Kano and Mall Salisu Chairman KaSSOPP

 

Introduction The training starts with opening prayer by Umar Adamu (SASIF) by 9:21 am, then followed by self-introduction and a set of ground rules. The agenda was presented by Mrs. Stella, Program Manager AAH Jigawa/Kano, which includes: Objectives of the training, overview of the Government palliative, the objective of the palliative monitoring and the role of CSO/Media, quality of Good Interviewer, Ethics principles in research, methodology and sample size determination, research question, formulation, questionnaire design, introduction to Kobo Collect app, questionnaire design using Kobo Collect app, introduction to the survey questionnaire, finalize LGA and Community for the assessment and develop itinerary for the assessment and sensitize participants on social inclusion related social protection.

Also, the objectives of the training were explained by Mrs. Stella. The objectives of the training are

• To train CSO/Media on how to track and ascertain the receipt of palliative from the Federal Government to Kano State Government by the populace for accountability purposes and to hold the Government accountable.

 

• With the CSO and Media to determine what element of the palliative is to be monitored.
• Determine how many LGA benefited from the palliatives and sample needed for monitoring

 

• What question the assessment want to answer.
• Track and know who the beneficiaries are in the state.
• Track the utilization of the palliative after distribution to the beneficiaries • Timely proactive disclosure of information
• Comprehensiveness and usability of the information
• Availability of the beneficiaries targeting
• Monitored quality and quantity of food items received
• Available spaces for citizen’s engagement
• Timeliness of Government responsiveness and Citizen’s satisfaction
• Sensitize participants on social inclusion related to Social Protection Overview of Government Palliative Nigeria’s Government enacted the COVID-19 Regulation 2020 to curb the spread of Coronavirus in Nigeria.

 

The measures specified include restriction of movement of persons and goods 2 (lockdown), compulsory usage of face masks, hand sanitizers, etc. in the market places, religious houses, schools, private and public offices. The Government also introduces fiscal and economic stimulus (Cash transfer, Distribution of Food, Tax reduction, subsidies, etc) to redress the distress of the vulnerable populace.

 

In compliance with Federal Government directives, State Governments impose varying degrees of measures to curb the spread of coronavirus in their states including Kano and also a main stakeholder in the ‘palliative’ distribution.

 

Mr. Salisu, Chairman KASSOPP, aptly put that unlike the Federal Government approach of preparedness from regulation to restrictions, Kano state Government impose movement restrictions.

 

Palliatives received by inhabitants of Kano were donated by the Government, Corporate Organization, Foundations, Philanthropists, Religious Organization, Traditional/Religious Leaders, and concern individuals.

Generally, the level of the beneficiaries from the distributed palliative is low. Kano State palliative distribution was marred with the following challenges:

• Very low level of beneficiaries; 4 in every 500 people of each polling unit. • Low quality or damaged goods: There are palliatives received that are not good enough for consumption
• Issues of transparency and accountability; selection and distribution is difficult to assess
• Persons with Disability (PwD) were excluded; some were selected and ignored subsequently.
• Lack of preparedness funds to curb the Pandemic in the state.

 

• Politicizing the distribution of palliative in some areas. Palliative Monitoring and the Role of CSOs and Media Mr. Abdul Rasheed, M & E Save the Children – Abuja stated that the objectives of the palliative monitoring to include: to develop a tool which aims at the systematic collection, and analysis of information of the program as it progress, to provide the government with valid information, to provide a range of information from the credibility of the beneficiaries targeting vulnerable households, and assess the beneficiaries’ satisfaction.

However, the role of CSOs and Media is to promote transparency, and accountability of public funds, gaining public trust, community engagement, and humanitarian aid.

 

He also explained the qualities of a Good Interviewer; an Interviewer should know the survey, training and experience, listening culture, emotional maturity, control of anger and aggression, empathetic attitude, ability to recognize uniqueness, extrovert behavior, physical stamina, and stable personality.

Furthermore, he outlined three ethics principles in research as respect, beneficence, and justice. However, he stressed the importance of informed consent from the interviewee in which Dr. Salisu of BUK suggested the consent of a parent in the case of Children.

Mr. Sagir also raises a 3 issue regarding the culture of the community as an essential; respect to people’s culture is important whilst Mr. Salisu, Chairman KaSSoP, added the importance of appropriate language and expressions in the interview exercise.

 

In another session tagged methodology and sample size determination, Mr. Abdul Rasheed described sample size as the number of participants or observations included in a study.

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This can be determined using a mathematical formula or an online sample size calculator (i.e. http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html). The usage of the online sample size was projected and tested using the Kano State population as an example.

 

Also, how to distribute the sampled size for selected areas (LGA, Senatorial Constituency, etc.) was calculated mathematically using a simple fraction. Mr. Abdul Rasheed, M & E Save the Children – Abuja, typify the need to add 10% of the sampled size to care for non-respondents during the data collection exercise.

 

For example, if the sample size is 100 then adding 10 (10%) to it will be equal to 110 to be selected for data collection. So, added 10% will help to reach a minimum sampled size or more.

 

Also, where to start a collection of data is best arrived scientifically but in the absence of that spinning, a pencil or pen on the ground will help to choose randomly without bias.

 

He also presented research questions formulations with the six steps involved in the questionnaire design. KaSSoPP was able to adapt a questionnaire to answer research questions formulated by them.

 

What to address is the “Assessment of COVID-19 Palliative Distribution in Kano State” to appraise the COVID-19 palliative distribution exercise in Kano State.

However, the specific objectives as agreed are to:

 

1. Identify the challenges of palliative distributions in Kano State

 

2. Evaluate the level of transparency and accountability of COVID-19 palliative distributions exercise in the state
3. To examine the level of inclusion in the distribution of
4. To assess the opinion of respondents on a possible way of improvement. Before wrap up of day 1 presentations, the Kobo Collect application was introduced.

Some members have downloaded the application whilst usage is expected on the second day of the training.

We also agree to arrive at the venue by 8:30 to start early on the second day with the closing prayer by Mr. Sufyanu Bichi.

 

DAY 2 Moderator: Mallam Salisu Chairman KaSSoPP The second day starts with opening prayer and a recap of day one by Ibraheem Amosa AHIP Kano around 9:00 am. Mobile Data Collection was described by Mr. Abdur Rasheed, M & E Save the Children – Abuja, as a method of gathering any type of information using a mobile device.

 

He pointed out the fact that using a mobile device to collect data is economical, timely, safer storage and backup, user- 4 friendly, quick access to data. The popular mobile data collection applications include KoBoCollect, ODK, Survey CTO, Google Form, Survey Monkey, etc.

KoBoCollect App is choosing for simplicity and cost-effectiveness. Steps are as follows:

 

• After installation of KoBoCollect App
• Open the apps
• Open general settings
• Click on a server • Click on URL and enter: https://kc.humanitarianresponse .info/kassopp • Enter username: and password

5 How to use the KoBoCollect App? User is expected to download blank forms from his/her account and start data collection, following these steps:

1. Confirm internet connection on your device, then
2. Select Get Blank Form on the home screen menu of KoBoCollect
3. Click Select All (or select the ones you wish to download), then click Get Selected.

6 How to collect data through filling blank forms? After Blank Form is downloaded, the internet connection is no longer a must. The blank forms and the following submissions will stay on the mobile device until the user connects or regain internet connection and send the data submissions to the server. Steps to collect data through filling blank forms are as follows:

 

1. Select Fill Blank Form on the home screen
2. Select the form you wish to fill out and enter data.
3. Users can go through and start answering all the questions (swiping your finger from right to left).

 

4. When the user reaches the end of the form, he/she should click on Save Form and Exit with the option of finalized opened; if it is not marked before clicking on Save Form and exit then it can be edited later.

Otherwise, if it is marked as ‘finalized’ before clicking on Save Form and exit then it cannot be edited later).

7 How to upload finalized data to the server? After the User has completed the forms, these steps should be followed to upload the collected data to the KoBoToolbox account and server:

1. Connect to the internet.
2. Edit Saved Form if there is one or more pending

 

3. Click on Send Finalized Form from the home screen,
4. A list of your most recently collected forms appears.

 

5. Click Select All (or select just the ones you wish to send), then click Send Selected. How to edit data in KoBoCollect? Once the User has completed filling out forms, it’s possible to edit and make corrections to the submitted data in KoBoCollect before sending them to the server.

 

1. Select Edit Saved Form on the home screen of KoBoCollect.
2. Users will see a list of Saved Forms. Choose the one that you wish to make corrections to.
3. Make changes as needed and then press Save Form and Exit.

 

4. User can repeat the process if he/she wish to make corrections to multiple Saved Forms. How to delete Blank and Saved Forms in KoBoCollect? Once the user has completed all data collection for a specific project and has submitted all the saved forms to the KoBoToolbox server, it’s recommended to delete the Blank Forms and Saved 8 Forms from KoBoCollect so that enumerators will not get mixed up when collecting data for other projects.

 

To do this, select Delete Saved Form from the home screen. Before the end of day 2 training, participants were asked to enter data into the KoBoCollect app to test what has been learned and to make necessary corrections to the drafted Palliative Distribution Monitoring for Kano State.

 

Little corrections were identified and corrected and participants reaffirm the needs of this training as CSO or Media to monitor Kano State Palliative Distribution.

 

Also, participants showed readiness to make use of what has been learned on Palliative Distribution Monitoring using the KoBoCollect app for KaSSoPP activities and others.

 

Lastly, participants were implored to show more commitment to adaptive fund applications. More individual organizations should try and apply while KaSSoPP as a platform should try and submit on time.

 

 

DAY 3 Moderator: Mallam Salisu Chairman KaSSoPP.

 

Day 3 starts with opening prayer by Dr. Nuradeen, then recap by Ibraheem Amosa AHIP Kano.

 

Session objectives include: to develop a clear understanding of prominent definitions, approaches, concepts, and frameworks for social inclusion; to generate understanding and familiarity with the linkages between social inclusion and social protection; and, to build the capacity of participants to communicate and elaborate why social inclusion is a key component of social protection.

 

Understanding social inclusion from exclusion was presented by Mr. Garba, ACO AAH Kano starting with the question: What is Social Inclusion?

 

Participants described social inclusion in writing as instructed. Then, expatiate exclusion and drivers of exclusion. Drivers of exclusion include vulnerability related to life course cycle, limited human capabilities, legal norms and rights, the ability of public policies, and institutions, success in establishing inclusive rules, procedures, and practices to enable equitable access and utilization of services, good governance, and informal norms and practices.

 

Mrs. Stella, Program Manager AAH Jigawa/Kano also take another session tagged ‘what is social inclusion?’ with group work where participants were grouped four and asked to described social inclusion using a diagram, sketch, or pictures. Each group illustrated social inclusion with diagrams and presented it in styles.

 

Followed by a session on the effects of social exclusion handled by SPIC, AAH Jigawa.

 

This was started by group work. Participants were grouped into two; Group One: Effects of social exclusion Group Two: What can we do to promote social inclusion? She explained that social exclusion causes poverty, productivity, conflict, insecurity and makes it difficult to achieve sustainable development goals. And what can be done to promote inclusion include partnerships to increase accountability and promote the role of law; influencing

9 policymakers; and, taking prejudice and changing behavior. Mrs. Stella joined the session and explained social protection’s contribution to inclusion as a means of addressing most drivers of exclusion and contribute to addressing outcomes of exclusion.

 

We started another session with the following objectives presented by Mr. Umar Ibrahim ACO AAH Jigawa:

 

• To provide a platform for exchanging experience and practices on mainstreaming disability and other cross-cutting issues in development programming;

 

• To demonstrate through case studies and other innovative approaches how disability and other crosscutting issues can be mainstreamed into development;

 

• To advocate for human rights-based approach in addressing both basic and specific needs of persons with disability and other vulnerable groups; and,
• To raise the visibility of disability and cross-cutting issues in development programming. Followed by the definition and key factors of the person with a disability by Mr. Garba, ACO AAH Kano.

 

 

He said that disability is the disadvantage and exclusion which arise as an outcome of the interactions between people who have impairments and the social and environmental barriers they face due to the failure of society to take account of their rights and needs.

 

 

And described impairment as a physical, intellectual, mental, or sensory characteristic or condition, which places limitations on an individual’s personal or social functioning in comparison with someone who does not have that characteristic or condition.

 

We took another group work (Group 1 & 2) tagged Taking inclusive home using the following questions:

1. What are the social inclusion programs in Kano state?

 

2. How inclusive will you rate the programs?
3. What can be done to enhance inclusion? The two groups meet, answered the questions, and presented it. Here we start mainstreaming disability and barriers as another topic handled by SPIC and ACO AAH Jigawa and to ensure monitoring.

 

Mainstreaming was described as the process of engaging in a structured way with an issue as an organization, at the workplace, program, and policy levels, to address and avoid increasing, the negative effects of that issue.

 

However, in disability, mainstreaming is a method to promote inclusion and to address the barriers that exclude disabled people from full and equal participation in society.

Therefore monitoring is very essential in ensuring transparent disbursement and equity.

Mrs. Stella, Program Manager AAH Jigawa/Kano also stresses how to mainstream disability into the program at different levels; Pre-planning, Planning, implementation, and monitoring.

Mainstreaming in CDGP was not left out, it includes identifying and partner with an organization of persons with a disability, support legislation, policies and programs with a disability, data disaggregation, development of indicators in program plans, training, and referrals, and awareness creation for rights and monitoring

10 Next Step of Action Our next steps of action are:

 

• Planning meeting for data collection
• Data collection using KoBoCollect
• Dissemination of results
• Stepdown training for member’s organization
• Continuous sensitization
• To embark on investigative reportage on palliative distribution The training was wrapped up with thanks from Mrs. Stella, Program Manager AAH Jigawa/Kano. Followed by a vote of thanks on behalf of KaSSoPP by Mall. Salisu, Chairman KaSSoPP, and closing prayer by Mallam Ashiru Shehu Kachako (Zuma)