President Muhammadu Buhari called on the corporate sector to get more involved in Nigeria’s humanitarian sector on Friday in New York, citing the ongoing challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, severe weather occurrences, and wars.
Buhari also emphasized the importance of effective coordination between all parties involved in disaster relief and disaster mitigation in the nation, pleading with bilateral and multilateral development partners to keep supporting well-thought-out policies and programs in the area with technical assistance.
The Nigerian president spoke at a side event at the 77th UN General Assembly titled “Strengthening Resilience and Sustaining Development: A Humanitarian Development Peace Approach to Leaving No One Behind.”which was organized by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development.
Femi Adesina, the president’s special adviser on media and publicity, revealed this in a statement.
The president referred to the establishment of the Humanitarian Ministry in August 2019 as a strategic intervention, saying it demonstrated Nigeria’s commitment to consistently boost resilience and sustain development through improved coordination and synergy between global, regional, and national humanitarian and development actors, partners, and governments.
In the 37 months the Ministry has been in operation, Buhari told the gathering, it has collaborated with national governments, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the organized private sector, the United Nations, local and international non-governmental organizations, and security actors to broaden dialogue, strengthen current capacities, and strengthen coping mechanisms.
Buhari said, “The Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development, its Agencies and Programmes, have developed policies, frameworks, programmes and plans that form the foundation necessary to build resilience.
“Some of these include the Civil Security Cooperation in Humanitarian Action, which created the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee, the development of LIFE Coordination Framework and the National Humanitarian Committee Technical Working Group.”
He continued by saying that by establishing organizations that will focus on the elderly and those with disabilities, Nigeria had also highlighted their involvement in the social protection system.
Therefore, Buhari urged the gathering to examine the experiences that had been shared over the years and develop potential transformative solutions for the future.
