The Federal Government, United Nations and other stakeholders yesterday called for enhanced youth involvement in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mobilisation.
They spoke in Abuja at the second edition of a three-day “Training of Trainers (TOT) for SDGs Development Knowledge Facilitators” organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs) in collaboration with the NYSC.
Participants included the host, SSAP-SDGs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and his Ministry of Youths and Sports counterpart, Sunday Dare.
Their call was echoed by the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier-General Mohammed Fadah.
Fadah, represented by the Director, Special Project and Community Development Services, Abdulrazak Salawu, noted that youths’ involvement in SDGs mobilisation had improved since the OSSAP-SGDs and the NYSC partnered in 2017 under the “NYSC-SDGs Champions” project.
He added that with support from the OSSAP-SGDs, his agency “embarked on the War Against Poverty (WAP) programme where almost 4,000 Corps members were trained in entrepreneurial skills and empowered.”
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Orelope-Adefulire expressed delight at the positive impact of her office’s collaboration with the NYSC, which she said had resulted in the involvement of more youths in deepening the actualisation of SDGs.
She stressed the need to “encourage and engage our NYSC members, “who are from diverse backgrounds, to be at the forefront of implementing the SDGs in Nigeria.
“This can easily be done by providing a platform for more digital and entrepreneurial skills, as well as leadership opportunities, to enable them to thrive locally and guarantee decent and sustainable work for inclusive growth and development.
“We will continue to play our central role in the integration of the SDGs into the Sectoral Policies and Plans of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)”.
Dolapo Enejo of the United Nations Global Compact Network (UNGCN) in Nigeria, noted that the “active engagement of youth in sustainable development efforts is central to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies by the target date.”
Enejo, who represented the Chair of the UNGCN in Nigeria, Mrs Soromidayo George, added that youth involvement would help avert “the worst threats and challenges to sustainable development, including the impacts of climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and migration.”
Represented by John Achike, Ngige hailed those behind the initiative and assured of his ministry’s support for efforts to encourage skill acquisition among the youths.
Dare, who was represented by Hamid Nagogo, spoke in a similar vein and commended the collaboration between the OSSAP-SDGs and the NYSC.