The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Mohammed Fall, has stressed the need to strengthen the UN-Nigeria cooperation framework to bolster national growth.
Fall made the call his opening remarks as Co-Chair of the Joint United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023 – 2027 Steering Committee Meeting that on Monday in Abuja.
According to him, once the cooperation framework is aligned with national priorities, the country programme documents that follow will align with the exercise.
“Today, we hardly reach 240 million people, that clearly indicates where we are in terms of international solidarity and where we are in terms of multilateralism.
“We should look at it also as a wake-up call for our host government to change their modality of tackling development, to look for domestic resource mobilisation and innovative finances.
“To bring in private sector, mobilise and trigger all mechanism that can adapt to this new paradigm, and landscape of resource availability; such is wake-up call for UN and for us too,” Fall said.
He further stressed the need for the steering committee’s recommendation to be adhered to, as a means to ensure sustainable solution to ongoing climate-related shock, conflict, internal or inter-country conflict globally.
Sen. Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, also co-chair of the steering committee meeting, described the event as platform for bringing together UN agencies in support of Nigeria’s development priorities.
According to him, it is in every sense a shared instrument and one that reflect Nigeria’s ambition for its development, as much as it reflects the collective effort of the United Nations partners.
“Our role speaks to the central place of planning, budgeting, and resource-based coordination in ensuring that the cooperation framework translates into real and measurable impact for our people.
“Our shared responsibility on this committee is to provide strategic direction to monitor progress and to hold ourselves accountable for the delivery of the outcomes we are jointly committed to,” Bagudu said.
On her part, Dr Bernard Doro, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, assured the stakeholders and partners that the ministry would be committed to ensuring no one was left behind.
He said that under President Bola Tinubu leadership and the Renewed Hope Agenda, the ministry would continue to implement policies that reduce poverty, strengthen social protection and build resilience among vulnerable Nigerians.
“Central to this effort is our flagship national coordination framework, the One Humanitarian Poverty Response System (OHOPRS), which harmonises humanitarian action, social protection and poverty reduction under a single-window architecture,” Doro said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the OHPRS breaks institutional silos and brings Federal and State Governments, Development Partners, UN Agencies, Civil Society and the Private Sector together to deliver coordinated, accountable support.
The event provided an opportunity for various stakeholders to highlight achievements and progress made under the framework, which is a master document built on the foundation of government priorities.
The event featured goodwill messages by Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning,Dr Doris Anite; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (SSAP-SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire. (NAN)
