The United Nations Children’s Fund has assured the Federal Government of UNICEF’s commitment to support humanitarian response and poverty alleviation in Nigeria with $270m.
The deputy director of information, ministry of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Rhoda Iliya, made this known in a statement on Tuesday.
Iliya said Cristian Munduate, UNICEF representative in Nigeria, made the pledge when she visited Betta Edu, the minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, in Abuja.
The team from UNICEF was led by the agency’s Country Representative, Christian Mundate, who was accompanied by the Chief of Health and HIV/AIDS, Eduardo Celades.
“UNICEF also assured the minister of their commitment to providing technical support towards building capacity of the ministry’s staff to achieve its mandate,” she said.
“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.”
Responding, Edu informed the delegation that the Federal Government was committed to lifting 133 million poor Nigerians out of poverty in a phased approach, especially the 71 million extremely poor Nigerians who live under $1.90/day.
The minister added that the government is determined to collaborate with other development partners to achieve its plans.
“Time is of the 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, the time for intense action is now,” Edu said.
She assured her guests of the commitment to transparency and accountability in all the processes of the ministry.
The minister added that the engagements with partners such as UNICEF would continue until the Federal Government achieves its target.
