The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), has assured the Government of Nigeria of its commitment to support the Humanitarian Response and Poverty Alleviation with 270 million USD.
The Country Representative, Nigeria, Christian Mundate, gave the assurance when he led a delegation to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu on a working visit to her office in Abuja, Nigeria.
The UNICEF Chief also assured the Honourable Minister of technical support to build capacity of the Ministry’s staff as well as support the development of a Humanitarian Response Protocol for Nigeria to guide all Humanitarian Actors in order to facilitate effective coordination.
Mundate further pledged to 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.
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Responding, the Minister, Dr. Betta Edu, told the delegation that the Nigerian Government under the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is committed to lifting 133 million poor Nigerians out of poverty in a phased approach, especially, the 71 million extremely poor Nigerians who live under one dollar ninety-five cents a day.
The Minister charged UNICEF to also draw up plans towards supporting the Federal Government on poverty alleviation.
“Time is of essence and we need to run at the speed of light to roll out social programs that will bring relieve 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,” She emphasized.
Dr. Edu also assured the delegation of her commitment to transparency and accountability in all the processes of the Ministry adding that the engagement with partners like UNICEF will continue until Government achieves its target.
