A report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2022 rated Zamfara and Kebbi States as having the highest number of child mortality, malnutrition and education challenges in the country.
According to Nigerian Tribune’s findings out of 10 people in these states, seven are classified as poor, while eight in 10 children are multi-dimensionally poor in these two Northern states.
Thus, addressing these issues is crucial for improving the well-being of the people, especially children and adolescents, as their case is more critical compared to other states in the country.
Given the above statistics, the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) Social Policy Specialist, Sokoto Office, Isah Ibrahim, remarked that the situation in Kebbi and Zamfara states necessitates a move from the traditional activity-based budgeting to Programme-Based Budgeting (PBB), as a way of helping them to tackle these challenges.
“The PBB is a new model in assisting the states and even countries. Every activity starts from the budgeting. This will help them to track spending in order to evaluate the progress achieved,” he declared.
Mallam Ibrahim said: “Against the backdrop of poor social outcomes in both states and despite significant budgetary investments, at the request of both Zamfara and Kebbi states, UNICEF has agreed to provide support to both states to migrate to PBB.”
He noted that this was aimed at supporting the governments of the two states in their commitment to transition from the traditional line item/activity mode of budgeting to programme or results-based budgeting to improve the quality and results of government spending.
The policy specialist of UNICEF observed that the recent social budgeting and fiscal space study conducted by UNICEF in the two states confirmed that funds being expended from the current mode of traditional budgeting approach were not giving the right results when it comes to women and children’s survival, development and protection.
It was on this basis that the two governments requested technical support on how to design a programme-based budgeting that guides them for efficient and effective utilisation of the state-appropriated funds.
To this end, a workshop was organised for 108 officials from the Kebbi and Zamfara state governments, including members of the Houses of Assembly’s committees on Health, Education, Agriculture, and Finance.
Held at Sokoto Guest Inn, participants received training on the design and implementation of Results-Based Budgeting for the 2025 Fiscal Year Budget.
Declaring the workshop open, the Chief Field Officer, UNICEF, Mr Michael Juma, remarked that the aim of the training is to strengthen budget planning capacity and ensure optimal resource allocation to achieve targeted outcomes for the social sector.
He maintained that partnering with governments on public financing for children is a core part of UNICEF’s mandate.
“It forms the mechanism through which UNICEF supports governments’ commitment to invest in child rights ‘to the maximum extent of available resources’, as set out in Article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 19 on Public Budgeting for the Realisation of Children’s Rights.
He said, “In line with its mandate to protect and enhance the rights and well-being of all children, UNICEF generates evidence for planning and policy development, program design, resource allocation decisions, and reforms, as well as identifying areas for technical assistance.”
According to him, “UNICEF is focusing on supporting the mobilisation, allocation and utilisation of domestic public financial resources to improve social outcomes, reduce poverty, and address inequality.”
He also argued that this approach aligns with UNICEF’s commitment to ensuring that available resources are directed towards achieving positive and impactful changes in society, particularly in terms of improving the well-being of children and vulnerable populations.
“Improving the amount and quality of government spending on investments and services for children is crucial for enhancing outcomes for children. UNICEF has been working diligently to support governments in this endeavour.”
He therefore called the participants to pay attention to what they have been taught so that at the end of the day, the main objective of the training would be achieved.
In addition, while making highlights during the training, Ibrahim asserted that Performance and Programme-based budgeting (PBB) is being embraced by African governments in order to realise better service delivery and to improve value for money in public spending.
“These objectives are linked to the goal of making governments accountable for achieving the objectives of poverty reduction strategies or national development plans and for delivering results from annual budget spending,” he stressed.
He told Nigerian Tribune that many African countries have begun PBB reforms while still having weak Public Financial Management (PFM) systems. That is, preconditions related to annual budgeting and a properly functioning PFM system are not in place.
Ibrahim also noted that over the past seven years, through the social policy programme component, UNICEF Nigeria has been supporting Federal and state governments in designing and implementing social policy programmes in the country using different approaches, thereby contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals focusing on the realisation of child rights.
“This has included support for reform of the development plans, annual budgeting and medium-term budget processes including engagement of national and subnational governments.
“Other support provided included routine measurement of child poverty, ensuring the data informs new programmes and activities, increasing child-focused investment that contributes towards the reduction of child poverty, expanding access to social protection interventions to reach the most vulnerable, and including children and adolescents.
“The PBB is a model of performance budgeting that seeks to strengthen the linkages between the strategic priorities of a government and its spending plans by arranging expected outputs and outcomes into a programmatic structure and allocating funds accordingly.
“It aims to strengthen the alignment, flexibility, and accountability of the budget by refocusing resource allocation on the achievement of results rather than the management of inputs and government structures. In PBB, resource allocation is guided by clearly defined programme goals and structure for a set of activities.”
In Nigeria, Katsina, Kebbi, and Zamfara States are the first states to follow the worldwide trend of introducing a programme-based performance orientation into annual budget processes and planning budget expenditures over a multi-year period.
A major aim is to align strategic socio-economic planning more closely with annual budgets and Medium-Term Budgetary Frameworks (MTBFs). The decision to introduce PBB has originated in each country and/or under pressure from regional bodies in Africa or the donor community.
PBB reforms are being introduced mainly because the results-oriented approach to budgeting is perceived to be a major means of improving expenditure reallocation, particularly towards social sectors that contribute to poverty reduction.
In his remarks, the acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Zamfara State, Sani Abubakar Bukkuyum, while commending UNICEF for the technical support (from migrating from activity-based budgeting to programme based) was optimistic that the new approach will enable the state to improve the welfare of its people particularly children and women.
He noted that participants have acquired more knowledge on the programme-based budgeting, saying, “We will use it in preparing a more holistic budget during our planning.”
The acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning Kebbi State, Abubakar Ahmed Jega, expressed his happiness for being among the three states in Nigeria to receive training on Programme budgeting.
He posited that he and other government officials were happy to be part of the training.
“We will go back to Kebbi and Zamfara States, respectively, to put it into practice what we were taught.
“We are concerned about improving the lives of our people, especially our children. Thank God we have governors who are passionate about development in our respective states,” he said.
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