Abuja: The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, announced the launch of the National Poverty Intelligence Lab (NPIL), aimed at enhancing effective responses to poverty through data-driven solutions. The announcement was made during the NPIL Project Kick-off and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), and Data Systems Diagnostic Workshop held in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the workshop, organized by the ministry in partnership with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), highlighted the importance of leveraging data and intelligence systems to better address poverty-related challenges. Dr. Doro emphasized that the NPIL is expected to accelerate reforms to transform Nigeria’s approach to understanding and reducing poverty.
Dr. Doro stated, “I am super excited to witness the beginning of the operationalisation of what we have long envisioned; a truly integrated national system for poverty intelligence and humanitarian response.” He further stressed the need for systems, intelligence, evidence-driven leadership, and coordinated, accountable action to tackle poverty.
He noted that Nigeria’s poverty issues have accumulated over decades and require deliberate and data-driven policies for meaningful results. The Federal Government is committed to ensuring that programs targeting poor and vulnerable Nigerians deliver measurable outcomes.
Dr. Doro explained the transition from palliatives to pathways, fragmented projects to integrated systems, and from dependency to dignity, as outlined in the Renewed Hope Agenda. He asserted that the NPIL would serve as the engine to gauge progress towards these goals.
The minister underscored the importance of moving from assumptions and fragmented interventions to coordinated and outcome-oriented systems, highlighting that the NPIL is not just a technical initiative but a governance and poverty reduction reform.
The OHOPRS was designed to provide the necessary systems and intelligence to move Nigeria from fragmented interventions to coordinated outcomes. Dr. Doro noted that the NPIL would function as the evidence and intelligence backbone for the OHOPRS, ensuring informed, targeted, and measurable interventions.
He reiterated that the OHOPRS is a national operating model, not just another program, ensuring collaboration among government, development partners, humanitarian actors, and civil society organizations within a shared framework guided by common objectives and measurable outcomes.
IPA Country Representative, Mrs. Funmi Ayeni, emphasized the collaboration’s role in identifying the real needs of poor and vulnerable populations while minimizing intervention duplication. She highlighted that lifting people out of poverty requires collective action and evidence-based policymaking.
In a presentation titled ‘Understanding the NPIL within the OHOPRS,’ Prof. Christopher Chinedu of the ministry described the NPIL as the brain of the One Humanitarian-One Poverty Response System. He outlined the NPIL’s key functions, including priority mapping, vulnerability analysis, targeting intelligence, resource optimization, impact measurement, and early warning systems.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that stakeholders from across the humanitarian ecosystem participated in the workshop, underscoring the collaborative effort towards sustainable poverty reduction and improved living standards for Nigerians.