By Deborah Onyofufeke, Abuja
The United Nations Children’s Fund, (UNICEF) has pledged to give the Nigerian government the sum of $270 million to support Humanitarian Response and Emergencies in the country.
The pledge was made in a visit by the UNICEF Country Representative, Christian Mundate and the Chief of Health & HIV/AIDS, Eduardo Celades, to the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, in her office in Abuja.
The team expressed their commitment to support the Humanitarian Response and Poverty Alleviation in the country.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen by Rhoda Ishaku Iliya, the Deputy Director Information of the ministry, where she stated that the UNICEF Chief assured the Honourable Minister of technical support to build capacity of the Ministry’s staff as well as support to the development of a Humanitarian Response Protocol for Nigeria, to guide all Humanitarian Actors as this will facilitate effective coordination.
She also said the UNICEF team further promised 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.
READ ALSO: AANI to partner AANDEC on national security, progress
Responding, the Honourable Minister, Dr. Betta Edu, informed the delegation that the Federal Government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, is committed to lifting 133 Million poor Nigerians out of poverty in a phased approach; especially, the 71 Million extremely poor Nigerians who leave under one dollar ninety-five cents a day.
She charged UNICEF to also draw up plans towards supporting the FG 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”.
While she assured them of the commitment to transparency and accountability in all the processes of the Ministry, she told them that the engagement with partners like UNICEF will continue until Government achieves its target.
