The United Nations has reaffirmed commitment to support Nigeria in ending all forms of unrest and the impact of climate change.
This was disclosed at the UN Day two-days exhibition at the UN House in Abuja, with highlights on the impactful work done by UN agencies and staff across Nigeria.
Speaking at the exhibition, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mathias Schmale, who was represented by the Acting Resident Coordinator, Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, acknowledged the challenges in maintaining peace around the world, explained that the exhibition showcase the breadth and depth of projects implemented by the UN system around the country.
“Thus, on this day each year, we the peoples of the United Nations reaffirm our commitment to the organization’s ideals and values and renew our mission to secure peace and prosperity for all of humanity.
In this corner of the world, the UN remains a committed partner to the Government of Nigeria. This exhibition shows the strength of our partnership and the progress made under the UNSDPF from 2018 until 2022.
We shall soon jointly sign a new Cooperation Framework re-establishing our strong support to the Government and the Nigerian people which will guide our work together for the next five years.”
Speaking on the theme, “The UN and Nigeria: Partner for Peace, Prosperity and Sustainable Development” is apt, explaining that the 2030 Agenda is a shared roadmap for meeting and achieving the development aspirations of the Nigerian people, while also reinforcing the ideals and values of the UN Charter.
“Our vision is to leave no one behind, especially the most vulnerable, and that all the people of this country contribute to and benefit from inclusive rights-based development. Through transformative initiatives, we can catalyze a more peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.”
With the challenge of flooding in the country, Dr. Mulombo, noted that the UN was collaborating with NEMA for the implementation of the disaster risk management.
“We need to do more, accelerate and focus on implementing human based approach, we have already deployed our team to various states and a number of interventions are on the way through our colleague from UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, and others. What we do the affected in such situation, we support the host government, the affected state and the Federal government to implement the disaster management plan. We are already in touch with NEMA and working with them to assess the need while responding, we already have our team on ground performing the risk assessment, just to mitigate the impact of those outbreaks, should they occur.”
The UN Nigeria staff were commended for the courage, resilience, dedication and commitment in fulfilling the mission and mandate of the United Nations despite the many challenges they regularly face.
To commemorate the day at the UN Headquarters in Abuja, students from some private secondary schools were present to learn more about the United Nations as its different agencies held an exhibition.
Through the exhibition, students had opportunity to inquire more on the activities of UN agencies in Nigeria.
