Global Patriot Newspapers Your direct link to world happenings
“For Nigeria and indeed Africa as a whole, achieving the SDGs will mean ending poverty and hunger, safeguarding our ecosystem and the planet and ensuring our people live in peace and prosperity by the year 2030.”
This was contained in the address by President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in New York at the strategic High Level Event to mark the Official Launch of the Nigeria Integrated National Financing Framework Report on Sustainable Development (NIFF), on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly.
Stressing the importance placed by the present administration towards achieving this, President Buhari said, “It is pertinent to state that achieving inclusive, broad-based and sustainable development is a cardinal objective of our Administration.
“It is for this purpose that the Federal Government of Nigeria established a number of ambitious programmes in an attempt to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria.
“The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs has continued to provide technical leadership in the operations of the SDGs at all levels of governance in Nigeria.”
He expressed delight that the process leading to the NIFF which started in 2020 finally crystalized into Friday’s memorable activity.
“Today’s event marks the end of a long process which began in 2020, when the Steering Committee and the Core Working Group on Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework were inaugurated. The Integrated National Financing Framework has been developed to map out a much-needed sustainable financing plan for Nigeria to deliver on our commitment to the SDGs and our National Development aspirations,” he said.
President Buhari explained that the various developmental plans and programmes for the country have all been aligned with the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) and are poised to move the economy to greater heights despite the challenges that have confronted the country.
“Despite the challenges caused by the sharp drop in the prices of crude oil and the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria has remained resolute in our genuine desire to maintain and grow our economy.
“The 2017-2020 Economic Recovery and Growth Plan; the 2020 Economic Sustainability Plan; the 2021 National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy; and the 2021-2025 National Development Plan are all aligned with the SDGs.
“It is in line with this commitment and with a focus on the National Development Plan (2021-2025) that, the Federal Government of Nigeria, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme, has adopted the INFF as a tool to improve SDGs financing without increasing public debt and contingent liabilities to levels that will be detrimental to economic sustainability.”
Rallying Nigerians, International Community and Development Partners behind this new development, the President assured stakeholders of its immediate implementation.
In her remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire said the United Nations had particularly praised the Nigerian government for the implementation of the action plans of Nigeria, putting Nigeria ahead of many countries.
She added that in August, Nigeria became the “first country in the Global South to have successfully completed a Country-led Independent Evaluation of SDG-3 on ‘quality health and well-being for all’ and SDG-4 on ‘qualitative and inclusive education and lifelong learning for all.’”
Mrs Orelope-Adefulire said the Office of the Senior Special Assistant on SDGs also collaborated with the National Bureau of Statistics to track progress on the 230 Key Performance Indicators on annual basis, ascribing the successes to the unflinching support of President Buhari.
The Presidential aide explained that she was also working with some state governors to “integrate Sustainable Development Goals into their policies, programmes and budgets,’’ hoping that before the end of the current administration all the states would be covered.
Goodwill messages were delivered by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed, the European Union and Development Partners.
In a related development, President Buhari, also on Friday in New York called for more private sector participation in the humanitarian sector in Nigeria, against the backdrop of lingering challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, catastrophic weather events and conflicts.
The President equally stressed the need for efficient collaboration among stakeholders involved in humanitarian action and disaster mitigation in the country, urging bilateral and multilateral development partners to continue to provide technical support to well-planned policies and programmes in the sector.
The President spoke at a side event at the 77th UN General Assembly, hosted by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, entitled ”Strengthening Resilience and Sustaining Development: A Humanitarian Development Peace Approach to Leaving No One Behind.”
Describing the creation of the Humanitarian Ministry in August 2019 as a strategic intervention, President Buhari said it underscored Nigeria’s commitment to consistently strengthen resilience and sustain development through improved coordination and synergy between international, regional and national humanitarian and development actors, partners and governments.
He told the meeting that in the 37 months the Ministry has been operational, it has worked with national governments, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, organized private sector, the United Nations, Local and International Non-Governmental Organisations and security actors to widen dialogue, reinforce existing capacities and strengthen coping strategies:
”The Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development, its Agencies and Programmes, have developed policies, frameworks, programmes and plans that form the foundation necessary to build resilience.
”Some of these include the Civil Security Cooperation in Humanitarian Action, which created the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee, the development of LIFE Coordination Framework and the National Humanitarian Committee Technical Working Group.
”Other policies, frameworks, programmes and plans that support the agenda 2030 and resilience building of our citizenry are the National Internally Displaced Persons Policy, the Revised National Emergency Management Plan, the National Emergency Flood and Response Plan, the National Policy for Aging for Elderly Persons, the Poverty Reduction Plan, and the revised National Policy on disability, all aimed at supporting our Administration’s strategy to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.”
The President noted the Ministry has also led the administration’s efforts to tackle poverty and ensure social inclusion through the Social Investment Programmes, namely the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, the N-Power Programme and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme.
The President added that Nigeria has also brought to the fore the inclusion of Persons with Disability and elderly persons in the social protection space by the creation of agencies that will lay emphasis on these populations in the country.
The President, therefore, urged the meeting to analyse the shared experiences over the years and devise possible transformational solutions for the future.
In her welcome address, the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk, thanked President Buhari for his support since the creation of the Ministry in 2019.
Goodwill messages were delivered by Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum on behalf of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Amina J Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations as well as Development Partners.
Related Posts
Nelson Mandela, synonymous with fight for justice – Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Chief
UN appeals for $51bn to help 230m people on the brink, including Nigerians, in 2023
Commit to zero hunger by 2030 – UN Deputy Sec. General, Mohammed, urges African leaders
At UN meeting: Mohammed celebrates Nigerian women appointed into global positions; Fetes Minister, SSA to Mrs Buhari, Governors’ wives, others- UN Deputy Secretary General, Nigeria’s Amina Mohammed, proposes actions to stem migration flows
- Nigeria-born United Nations Deputy Secretary-General concludes visit to Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia
