FG Partners With UN Agencies and Other Partners to Raise $5 Billion Annually

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation announced that the Federal Government has collaborated with the United Nations and other development partners to raise $5 billion annually for Nigeria’s Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund.

The PUNCH said that the UN agencies, development partners, and ambassadors, among others, also committed to a coordinated approach and durable solutions for humanitarian response in Nigeria.

During the humanitarian coordination meeting at the United Nations House, Abuja, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, admonished ambassadors, UN agencies, NGOs, and other partners on the commitment towards humanitarian crises in Nigeria. 

The Ministry stated,

• The meeting, which was at the instance of the minister, brought all the humanitarian responders in Nigeria under one roof, where they all committed to a durable, smart, and coordinated approach to humanitarian response.

• Part of the resolutions of the meeting was the commitment to raise $5bn annually for the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund in Nigeria by the Federal Government, other countries, private sector, donor agencies, and the development partners.

Dr Edu also sent President Bola Tinubu’s appreciation to the UN agencies and other development partners for their contributions to reducing the humanitarian crises experienced in Nigeria. 

She said,

• President Bola Tinubu does appreciate the effort of the UN agencies as well as other organisations 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, among 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.

She also added about the government's commitment to prevent, reduce, mitigate, and respond quickly to the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria to the barest minimum, which has helped reduce poverty to 50%.

Matthias Schmale, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, spoke on the UN agencies, expressing his support for the government in tackling the country's humanitarian challenges.

He said,

• We’ve heard very clearly from you that humanitarian needs 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 the Federal Government priorities.