Federal Government on Tuesday held a high-powered meeting with members of the Diplomatic Corps and Development Partners on how to raise the proposed $5 billion Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund annually.
The meeting which was attended by Ambassadors of Malaysia, Norway and United Arab Emirates and other humanitarian responders in Nigeria was held at the instance of Nigeria’s Minister For Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu.
Part of the resolutions of the meeting was the commitment to raise $5 billion annually for the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund in Nigeria by the Federal Government, other countries, private sector, donor agencies and development partners.
The hosting of the African Humanitarian Summit, which is a follow-up to the World Humanitarian Summit of Istanbul in 2016, joint field assessment by government and partners, Quarterly humanitarian coordination meeting and Nigerian humanitarian report, creation of the Nigeria Humanitarian Dashboard amongst others
Edu conveyed President Bola Tinubu’s appreciation to UN agencies and development partners for their immense contributions to easing humanitarian challenges in Nigeria.
She, however, stressed that the era of uncoordinated, unaccountable, and silotic approaches to humanitarian response in Nigeria was over.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does appreciate the effort of the UN agencies as well as other organizations that are working in the humanitarian space. but we just need to bring this effort in a more coordinated manner so that we can achieve more, especially in the face of dwindling resources.
“There is a need for the government to take the lead and properly coordinate. The days of uncoordinated responses to the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria should be over.
“The days of operating in silos and duplicating efforts that lead to wastage amongst other things should be over. The government must take the lead to coordinate, to ensure that we are first in line with government priorities, and then secondly, we are meeting our targets. Plan with the government, implement with the government, and let’s get the right results in the right direction.
“Government will follow up. The government will be proactive, and the government will monitor because we want to see results. As I told you, we signed a bond, so that bond, we will deliver on it together as a team. Yes, we will,” the minister said.
She emphasised the Federal Government’s commitment to reduce, prevent, mitigate and respond adequately to the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria in a more coordinated manner, thereby reducing poverty by 50 per cent.
On his part, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Matthias Schmale who spoke on behalf of UN agencies expressed absolute support to the government of Nigeria in its effort to tackle humanitarian challenges facing the country and commended Edu for providing dynamic leadership in that regard.
“We’ve heard very clearly from you, honourable Minister, that humanitarian needs of course span the rest of the country. We are here as United Nations Agencies to support in ensuring proper coordination, develop review and implementation response plan, mobilise resources for country response as well as align to Federal Government priorities,” he noted.
The UN chief was optimistic that the “Renewed Hope Agenda of the government is leading the way forward in terms of Nigeria being able to deliver on the SDGs, and address humanitarian needs.”
The Ambassador of Malaysia, Norway and the United Arab Emirates, amongst other Ambassadors present, committed to supporting Nigeria in a more strategic way to address humanitarian crises in Nigeria.
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