By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme under the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is partnering with state governments to address critical manpower gaps in basic education and primary healthcare sectors.
This was contained in a statement signed and issued by the Communications Officer of the HOPE Governance Programme, Joe Mutah.
The National Coordinator of the programme, Dr. Assad Hassan, disclosed this in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the HOPE Governance Programme Implementation Support Mission for the North-East, held in Gombe on Tuesday.
Hassan said improved recruitment and equitable deployment of teachers and primary healthcare workers are essential to strengthening service delivery in both sectors.
“We are also exploring ways to improve the recruitment of teachers as well as primary healthcare workers. Beyond recruitment, we are focusing on the equitable deployment of these personnel.
“There are challenges in deploying workers to hard-to-reach areas, so the HOPE Governance Programme provides an opportunity to complement existing efforts by the Federal Government and state governments to enhance service delivery in basic education and primary healthcare,” he said.
He explained that filling manpower gaps in the two sectors forms part of the Disbursement Linked Results (DLRs) agreed upon between the World Bank and participating state governments under the 500 million dollar intervention programme.
According to him, under the World Bank’s Programme-for-Results model, states that meet the agreed DLR targets will receive funding, enabling them to invest additional resources in both sectors.
Hassan noted that the programme is designed to support state governments in implementing far-reaching reforms by promoting accountability, good governance, and ensuring that public expenditure delivers measurable improvements.
“The HOPE Governance Programme provides an added opportunity to strengthen our systems in terms of accountability and to ensure that public resources deliver real impact for citizens in primary healthcare and basic education,” he said.
He stressed the need for implementing agencies and state governments to institutionalise the reform framework of the programme to ensure efficient and impactful service delivery.
“We must continue to ask how we can sustain the gains achieved so far and institutionalise these reforms. Without this, we cannot make meaningful impact on our citizens,” he added.
Hassan also commended the Gombe State Government for hosting the Implementation Support Mission and for its commitment to improving basic education and primary healthcare in the state.
He described the state’s target of reducing out-of-school children by 50 per cent by 2030 as commendable.
In his remarks, the World Bank Task Team Lead for the HOPE Governance Programme, Ikechukwu Nweje, said the mission was convened to assess states’ progress in implementing the Disbursement Linked Results and to facilitate the exchange of experiences among participating states to promote peer learning.
The Secretary to the Gombe State Government, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, declared the Implementation Support Mission open on behalf of the state governor.
Meanwhile, states from the North-East, as well as Plateau and Jigawa, participated in the mission held in Gombe.
