APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has pledged to commit $270 million to strengthen and support Nigeria’s humanitarian response and poverty alleviation efforts.
UNICEF Country Representative, Cristian Munduate, told Nigeria’s new Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, in Abuja on Tuesday that UNICEF was committed to providing technical support towards building the capacity of the ministry’s staff to achieve its mandate.
”We will also support the development of a Humanitarian Response Protocol for Nigeria to guide all Humanitarian Actors as this will facilitate effective coordination.
”We will support the establishment of a National Humanitarian Situation Room or Humanitarian Emergency Operation Centre (H-EOC) to monitor, mitigate and prevent Humanitarian Emergencies and build resilience in the system,” the statement by the ministry’s spokesperson, Mrs Rhoda Iliya, quoted the UNICEF official as saying.
The Minister said in her response that the Nigerian government was determined to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty.
”The Federal Government of President Bola Tinubu, is committed to lifting 133 million poor Nigerians out of poverty in a phased approach.
”Especially, the 71 million extremely poor Nigerians who leave under $1.95 a day,” the minister said.
She urged UNICEF to, as a matter of urgency, draw up their plan of action towards supporting the Nigerian government efforts at poverty alleviation.
”Time is of essence and we need to run at the speed of light to roll out social programmes that will bring relief to the burdens of the poor.
”Nigerians are eagerly waiting for full implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda and the time for intense action is now” the minister said.
She assured UNICEF and other development partners of the determination of the Nigerian government to continue the engagement to achieve the target of lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty, adding that transparency and accountability will remain top priority under her stewardship in the ministry.
GIK/APA
UNICEF pledges $270m for poverty alleviation, humanitarian response in Nigeria
