The United Nations (UN) has engaged representatives of ten registered political parties in Nigeria on how to accelerate Nigeria’s achievement of Agenda 2030 and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)s.
Penpushing reports that a statement by National Information Officer, United Nations (UN) Information Centre (UNIC), Dr Oluseyi Soremekun explained that the United Nations (UN) Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, led the team in the meeting with the representatives of the political parties.
The coordinator thanked the representatives of political parties for their time and commitment, noting that the attendance was a promising sign for commitment for the country to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
“With attendees from across the political spectrum, this is a promising sign for the commitment of Nigeria to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – whatever the outcome of the upcoming elections,” he noted.
Penpushing further reports that Schmale recalled that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 2015 by 193 member states including Nigeria.
“Together, this set of 17 interconnected goals sets out a vision for a secure world free from poverty and hunger, with full and productive employment, access to quality education and universal health coverage, the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and an end to environmental degradation’,Schale stated
The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, in summarizing the rich discussion and contributions from all participants, noted that mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into party manifestoes and government plans is a good step towards rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Penpushing also reports that he expressed appreciation that all parties advocated for a focus on education, climate change related action and renewable energy, social justice and protection, eradication of poverty, and gender equality.
The United Nations (UN) boss recognised that Nigeria has much wealth in the form of its entrepreneurial citizens and natural resources, and against this background increasing domestic resource mobilization for government services and ensuring impactful spending is critical.
Penpushing reports that in similar vein, he stated the importance of making the Federal system work better by revisiting and refining roles and responsibilities between the Federal Government, State Governors and Local Government Areas.
The coordinator emphasized that the above points provide a good basis for further proactive engagement of the United Nations (UN) with the government and other critical stakeholders including parties at both national and state levels beyond elections.
Penpushing further reports that the roundtable was attended by Action Alliance (AA); Africa Action Congress (AAC); Action Democratic Party (ADC); Boot Party; Labour Party; National Rescue Movement (NRM); People’s Redemption Party (PRP); Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Social Democratic Party (SDP); and Young Progressive Party (YPP).
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