Against the backdrop of lingering challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, catastrophic weather events and conflicts, President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in New York called for more private sector participation in the humanitarian sector in Nigeria.
The President also 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.
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.