Kehinde Akintola
Federal Government, on Friday, unveiled plans to create two million jobs as part of ongoing efforts aimed at addressing myriad of humanitarian crises across the country.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda disclosed this in Abuja after a meeting with Deputy Secretary – General of the United Nations (UN), Ms. Amina Mohammed.
Professor Yilwatda who was appointed on the 23rd October, 2024, reiterated the Ministry’s resolve to sustain the existing relationship with United Nations and Indonesia in the bid to ensure successful implementation of various durable humanitarian solutions.
According to him, on the “23rd of this month, which is in some two weeks and some days to come, we’re going to have the Humanitarian Response Plan, which will be the NEEDS Assessment of all the humanitarian problems and challenges across the country.
“Together with the UN, we’ll work around the world globally to raise funds for the country using that Humanitarian Response Plan.
“And also within the first quarter of the year also, the Durable Solution Plan and programme that we’re doing will also come to effect.
“24th of this month also, we’re going together with the UN to Benue State to ensure that we provide the funding for the Durable Solution in Benue State.
“We’re working in partnership with them also. And there are many activities we’re going to do together with them because some started last year and the funding is already available. Some will go ahead to raise more funding along with them.
“So there are partnerships that we’re doing that we as a government are providing the funding. I’m sure also the President himself who is willing to ensure that we reduce poverty and he has provided a lot of funding for the safety net, especially in the budget of this year. If you check the 2025 budget, you’ll discover that there’s a lot of funding provided for safety nets.
“And these are also verifiable plans by the government to ensure that they participate along with the UN in reducing poverty and providing safety net for the poorest of the poor.
“So I’m thinking about movement of people out of poverty. What is the target for this year? The target for this year varies because as a Ministry, I have a target of creating 2 million jobs this year.
“And beyond my Ministry, there are other Ministries also that have been given targets. So I’m working on creating jobs. These are Durable Solutions now. And also moving a lot of women and the vulnerable group out of poverty. And these are programmes that we’re going to do inclusively to ensure that we target these groups.
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“But most especially also, the government of the present administration are working towards also reducing the number of people in the IDP camps.
“So, even if they want to stay in the host community, we should provide means of livelihood for them within the host community while they settle. And these are programmes that government is very, very interested in. And we’re working also in partnership with Indonesia to achieve them.
“Let me just say it’s very complex. It’s very complex when you are talking about host communities. Host communities are often the most generous people but the most in need. So poverty is everywhere. There are large indices of poverty in the country are high. So when host communities bring in, you have to accommodate them as well so that you don’t have the burden of those coming in and create the social tensions. So it does need time.
“At the same time, this is an emergency because people are suffering today and they cannot see the week. So I think it’s important for everyone to have that understanding.
“I think what we have heard this morning is the kind of investments that are going in, in clearing land and making it safe and available for people to farm so that you’re talking about a whole value chain of food supply that goes from production to the market.
“These are the programmes I think that one ought to monitor and to learn from and to see how we can scale-up. I think that’s the other challenge we have is that this is a big problem. It’s growing faster than the investments are going into it. It’s not just in Nigeria. It is everywhere.
“We are short of the resources that are coming from donors into crises today. The crises are many. And so we have to work in parallel at looking at how to prevent them to begin with.
“So economic programmes are important. Just note that in Africa, we have many burdens that are external to what a government can handle. A lot of this has got to do with debt. A lot of this has got to do with access to markets for us really to grow our economies at the rate at which we can bring returns to ministries like Humanitarian Affairs to invest in,” the Minister noted.
Speaking further, the Minister who acknowledged that the Ministry has a longstanding relationship with the UN, said: “we have opportunity to partner together to ensure that the people on the move, especially people affected due to insurgency and climate change and other conflicts across the country and even the impact of the economic changes that we’re making, the reforms that we’re making in the government, we give human face to everybody across the country.
“And this partnership is going to ensure that we give durable solutions to our people, we move as many people as possible out of poverty, we reduce youth unemployment, we ensure that our communities are safer.
“These are programmes we want to do to ensure that all vulnerable groups are not left behind because of what we’re doing. And UNOCHA has assured us of the support and the partnership will work together to achieve all these purposes.”
On her part, the UN Deputy Secretary General, Ms. Amina Mohammed who affirmed that many Nigerians are faced with various socioeconomic challenges, described the Ministry as critical to providing durable solutions to them.
According to her, the meeting was aimed at getting relevant information from the Ministry of Humanitarian and Poverty Reduction on “what their priorities are, how the UN can continue to partner.
“People on the move today, different crises, it’s climate, it’s conflict, it’s internal displacement through different hardships. So that makes this Ministry a focal place for first providing a prevention and dealing with the solutions for humanitarian crisis for people on the move.
“But I think more importantly addressing those that are most vulnerable, women, young people, the hope to a livelihood after the crisis. How do you recover and join back the community with a life of dignity? These are things that are important not just to Nigeria.
“Nigeria has many challenges when it comes to humanitarian crisis. Climate is new to the challenges that we face. It needs huge investments in the country so that we can have those transitions that will make us more resilient. They will look at adaptation.
“We are having more intense climate crises these days with flooding, with heat. You name it, we have it. And so I think when we are working with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs we are also looking ahead.
“How can we do the foresight analysis? How can we prevent? How can we bring in other sectors of the economy to make sure that it is holistic? So really, courtesy call to the Minister. It’s my first time meeting with him. But I know that the UN is working with them.
“What is also impressive in the country right now is in the way that the country takes ownership, funds its initiatives and programmes, but looks to partners to ensure that there is a scaling that we get to everyone because that is difficult. And that the quality of delivery remains that Nigerians can expect and achieve.”
When asked about the possible areas of UN intervention, she said: “there has been some work together with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs on what we call durable solutions. And it is that work and the technical assistance in getting ownership and capacity building in the Ministry. So through what we have, a cooperation framework for many sectors, we bring that expertise from the different agencies. So, whether we’re talking about UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR, OCHA, there are many expertise that come along. But it’s at the demand of the Ministry.”
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