The Nation Newspaper

Tag: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

  • Nigeria is endowed but poor, says don

    Nigeria is endowed with enormous human and natural resources, yet many of her citizens live in abject poverty,  a professor of Agricultural Economics, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai (IBBUL), Eniola Oluwatoyin Olorunsanya, has said.

    Olorunsanya spoke while delivering the institution’s 12th inaugural lecture at the school premises titled: “Poverty in the midst of plenty – The challenges of farming households in Nigeria.”

    She quoted a study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which assessed the rate of poverty, and the level of income inequality among rural households in Nigeria. The study submits that poverty continues to increase with huge chunk of the country’s wealth circulating in the hands of a few.

    Read Also: Nigeria at war with itself, says ACF scribe

    According to Olorunsanya, determinants of poverty include socioeconomic characteristics of the household, physical assets and community factors which include location of residence, among others.

    She lamented that the country was lagging behind in development index amid vast resources endowment and relatively high gross national income, a development she attributed to government’s inefficient and poor income diversification strategies.

    She said: “The global food crisis has been attributed to a number of factors including climate change, population growth, increased demand for bio-fuels, failure to improve crop yield, high oil prices leading to increased input loss for producers and traders. The structural problems like under-investment in agriculture and dominance in supply chain of food and agricultural policies skyrocket prices of food. Rapid urban growth for instance, is raising concerns about supply.”

    Olorunsanya recalled that the food security assessment in 2005 revealed that about 750 million people in 70 low-income countries were victims of food insecurity, noting, however, that Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where hunger has risen in the last decade.

    According to her, female-headed households are at more poverty level than male-headed households due to poor access to formal education and modern production procedures.

    “There is need for urgent measures to be taken by both government and relevant stakeholders to swiftly eradicate poverty among rural dwellers,” she noted, calling for an improved farming system, development of farmers’ cooperative societies among farming households and measures to mitigate the climate change scourge, among others, as ways of reducing poverty in the country.

  • FG, UNDP sign MoU on youth employment

    The Federal Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed an agreement on youth employment.

    The implementation of the agreement will see Nigerian youth gain employment with the global body under what is known as Junior Professional Officers Programme (JPO-P).

    JPO-P came into existence in 1963, with several countries participating in the programme.

    There are currently about 150 junior professional officers in various countries across the world.

    The number of youth employed is dependent on individual government who are expected to fund it.

    Nigeria first signed onto the initiative in 2012 but could not utilize the opportunity which expired in 2015.

    By signing this agreement, the ministry of Foreign Affairs has now taken the initiative to reactivate the programme.

    The initiative will not only launch the careers of young Nigerians in the United Nations system, it will also help in building capacity and human resources.

    Speaking at the signing of the MoU, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama said the initiative will positively affect the future of Nigeria’s representation in the UN.

    Onyeama noted that President Muhammadu Buhari attaches so much importance to youth development and hence the government is prepared to implement the initiative; stressing that Nigeria is a country with developmental programmes as it is the core of nationhood.

    He therefore stressed that the JPO-P will give more opportunities for young Nigerians to work within the UN set up, adding that “It will be a win-win agreement for all”.

    He however noted that the 2019 budget will determine the number of youth to be employed.

    In his remark, Mr. Joerg Kuehnel, acting Resident Representative, was delighted that Nigeria is committed to the programme, which he described as very important.

    “For us the participation of Nigeria is important because of the position the country occupy.”

  • UNDP donates school to Borno resettled community

     The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has inaugurated a primary school at Ngwom resettled community in Mara Local Government Area of Borno.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project was inaugurated by the UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock on Sunday at Ngwom community.

    The school was designed with 12 classrooms,  six offices, store and toilets.

    Steiner said the project was part of comprehensive programme designed to facilitate stabilisation, livelihoods support and recovery of conflict affected communities in the northeast.

    Read also: UNDP to support Niger communities in tree planting

    He said they were in the state to appraise the humanitarian situation, meet the communities with a view to promote stronger partnership to address the dire humanitarian needs in the region.

    NAN reports that the UN agency also disbursed N900,000 to Ngwom community under its Village Savings and Loan Associations, to facilitate execution of community development projects.

    According to statistics by the agency, some 300 houses, 288 market stalls, clinic, police post and water points were reconstructed at Ngwom under its Integrated community Stabilization programme.

    The UN agency also distributed farm inputs to 625 resettled households to enable them cultivate their farmlands during the 2017 and 2018 cropping season.

    Similarly, 120 households received support for irrigation activities; 120 for livestock production, while 128 households got small businesses support and 390 displaced persons to benefit from the Community-Based Safety Nets.

    Other services rendered by the agency include distribution of 340 lanterns to households and volunteers while 400 households encouraged to plant economic and non-economic trees.

  • UNDP plants 1000 trees in schools

    The United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ) and the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation ( GIFSEP ) are planting 1000 trees in schools in the FCT to mark the World Earth Day.

    Executive Director, GIFSEP, Mr David Terungwa, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja, following the launch of the “Trees for Schools Campaign” at Government Science and Technical College.

    Terungwa, said the campaign was aimed at enhancing awareness on the importance of environmental management among students.

    “The initiative is about creating awareness on trees to students so that they know the importance, plant trees themselves and nurture them to maturity.

    “We are launching the initiative and we plan to cover all the schools in the FCT; we are planting economic trees that have value so they would not be destroyed and altogether we have 1000 trees.

    “We are planting trees in schools based in the space provided; here we are planting 50 trees.”

    Mrs Ibironke Olubamise, UNDP National Coordinator, Global Environment Facility, Small Grants Programme told us that the organisation was supporting such projects with small grants.

    “One of the ways we are promoting environmental management is through initiatives like these; it is the UNDP implementing the Global Environment Facility, Small Grants Programme that has thrown its weight behind this programme.

    “The GEF small grants has supported more than 140 environmental projects in Nigeria and it is more than four million dollars we have spent in cash; the projects also bring counterpart funding.”

    Olubamise added that the theme of the 2018 World Earth Day was apt in view of the dangers of plastic wastes to human health and the environment.

    “We know that plastic is not biodegradable; it remains for years.

    “Go to the beaches, on the streets, there are litters of plastic waste everywhere.

    “When animals ingest these wastes, they end up on our tables; we do not need scientists to tell us that plastic waste is dangerous to our environment and health.”

    She further reiterated the UNDP’s support for programmes aimed at the sustainability of the environment.

    Earth Day, a day of political action and civic participation, is an annual global event promoting sustainable methods in environmental management.

    Earth Day Network, the organisation that leads Earth Day worldwide, has chosen “End Plastic Pollution” as the theme for 2018.

    NAN

  • 2019: INEC seeks UN support on capacity building, voter education

    2019: INEC seeks UN support on capacity building, voter education

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has called for United Nations ( UN ) support in capacity-building and voter-education ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the call during the commission’s meeting with UN’s Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) delegation on Monday in Abuja.

    Yakubu said that the commission would need the support to build capacity of its staff and political parties, and in voter education and general sensitisation.

    Other areas of needs for the elections, according to him, are electoral legal framework, electoral conflict, mitigation and inclusiveness, particularly of women, youths and People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs).

    Yakubu commended the UN for its support to INEC and other election management bodies in Africa, through its agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ).

    “Over the years, the UN has been providing critical support to INEC in our efforts to introduce and sustain reforms of the electoral system in Nigeria.

    “The UN agencies such as the UNDP have been of immense assistance to the commission, especially in building our capacity and extending the same support to our numerous stakeholders as well,’’ Yakubu said.

    He said that the commission looked forward to working together with the UN for the consolidation and deepening of democracy in Nigeria.

    The INEC chairman said that the commission had continued to maintain and expand engagements with stakeholders in the electoral process, especially as it prepared for the elections.

    He added that over the last two electoral cycles, 2010 to 2015 and 2015 to 2019, the commission had deliberately and purposefully embarked on far-reaching reforms of the electoral system.

    On his part, leader of the UN delegation, Mr Serge Kubwimana, said that they were at INEC to know the preparation of the commission for the elections and to know areas the UN could assist it.

    “The objective of the visit is to work together to see the context in which the commission has been prepared, and together identify areas where the commission may deem fit to have the UN collaboration as seen in the past,’’ he said.

    Kubwimana, who is in the UN Electoral Assistance Division and Team Leader of NAM in Nigeria, said “in doing so, the UN will look at the overall context – political context, social economic context and human right context’’.

    He added that in conducting the needs assessments, the UN would work with relevant stakeholders, including security agencies, political parties, civil society organisations, women organisations and People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs).

    “Women organisation is also an important aspect of our collaboration to see how we can increase representation of women in politics and also increase number of voters.

    “Security is also important in any given contest,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • World Bank, UNDP seek NiMet’s support on climate services

    World Bank, UNDP seek NiMet’s support on climate services

    The World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ) have solicited the support of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency ( NiMet ) in their climate and weather services initiatives in some developing countries.

    A statement by Mrs Theresa Ushie, Assistant General Manager, Public Relations, NiMet, on Tuesday in Abuja said the beneficiary nations in Africa were Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia, and Singapore in Asia.

    Prof. Sani Mashi, Director-General of NiMet said the synergy was in recognition of the agency’s track record in providing quality meteorological services and attainment of ISO 9001:2015 certification of its aeronautical services.

    Mashi disclosed this on Tuesday when he received a delegation from the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS ) in Abuja.

    He said that NiMet was mandated to promote the application of meteorological information to address development in accordance with the provisions of the Global Framework for Application of Climate Services (GFCS).

    NiMet boss disclosed that Nigeria had produced a National Framework for the Application of Climate Services ( NFACS ), which according to him, is awaiting presidential approval.

    “NiMet is providing support services to Liberia and Sierra Leone through daily weather forecast services; provides technical support to the ECOWAS Commission; and training of meteorologists in Benin Republic and the Gambia, among others.

    “NiMet is the first, and the only meteorological agency in Africa to receive the International Standards Organisation, ISO 9001:2015 certification for the provision of meteorological services for the aeronautical sector.

    Mashi, however, pledged NiMet’s continuous support for ECOWAS meteorological programmes.

    Earlier, Dr Johnson Boanuh, Director of Environment, ECOWAS Commission, who led the delegation, said they were in NiMet to acquaint themselves and their programmes with the new management.

    Boanuh, while commending NiMet, expressed appreciation for the agency’s support for the ECOWAS commission and the Regional Office for World Meteorological Organisation ( WMO ) in Nigeria.

    He disclosed that the WMO and GFCS Secretariat in Geneva had established an office in Dakar, Senegal to support and facilitate the establishment of NFACS in all ECOWAS member states.

    According to him, part of the programme drawn to facilitate the establishment of the NFACS is geared towards strengthening the capacities of the various National Hydro-Meteorological Services to meet their obligations.

    Boanuh said the body had commenced the needs assessment programme for ECOWAS member states, which according to him, will be executed in phases.

  • INEC organizes workshop for political parties

    INEC organizes workshop for political parties

    ….  Urges parties to address challenges hindering capacity

     

     

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged political parties to address challenges hindering capacity and efficiency of the parties in the country.

    Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the call at the opening of a two-day capacity workshop for Legal Advisers, Organising Secretaries and Treasurers of political parties on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Yakubu identified the lack of or limited internal democracy in terms of electing parties’ executives, selecting candidates, lack of transparency in funding and expenditures and campaign expenses as some of the issues bothering democracy in the country.

    The INEC Boss who was represented by Prof. Antonia Simbine, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman Elections and Party Monitoring Committee, said “Part of it is insufficient inclusivity in terms of absence of deliberate policies to promote participation of key social groups, including women, youths and people living with disabilities.

    “Lack of transparency in the funding and expenditures of political parties and campaign expenses, absence of formal internal mechanisms for mediation and dispute resolution are also involved.

    “It includes limited and deliberate compliance with relevant provision of party constitutions, the Electoral Act and other regulations guiding political party activities.

    National chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has expressed concern over volume of subsisting court cases initiated by political parties.”

    Yakubu, also expressed concern over volume of subsisting court cases initiated by political parties. He however said the Commission was determined to enter into talks with political parties on how to mitigate litigation in political parties.

    He said: “There are so many court cases, even on matters settled by the Supreme Court. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear.

    “Once there is a pronouncement by the Supreme Court, all citizens are duty bound to obey the judgment until there is another law superseding that by the National Assembly, the Executive or reconsideration by the Supreme Court.

    “But there are matters settled by the Supreme Court that are still subjects of litigation.

    “For instance, the famous Labour Party versus INEC case 2009 says that once an election is nullified on account of candidate’s disqualification, the disqualified candidate cannot participate in the general election.

    ‘’It adds that the party that fielded a disqualified candidate has also lost its right to field a candidate in the election.’’

    Yakubu therefore was of the hope that the workshop, which he said was the second phase, was organised to address challenges in the management of political parties’ capacity for compliance with relevant laws and regulation guiding their operations.

    He said that it was also to promote understanding and compliance of parties with campaign finance rules and regulation as well as the necessary skills for effective management of party’s activities.

    He urged the national officers of political parties to be committed at implementing the lessons of the workshop in running the affairs of their parties in order to strengthen the country’s democracy.

    Dr Samuel Bwalya, the Country Director, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nigeria, reassured of UNDP‘s continued support to lNEC and the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in further enriching the capacities of political parties.

    Bwalya, represented by Dr Kehinde Bolaji, Team Leader, Governance and Peace-building, described political parties as keystone of democratic governance.

    He expressed optimism that UNDP support to IPAC and political parties with real links to the grassroots would contribute to promoting a culture of openness.

    Bwalya said that this would also enrich the quality of policies and programmes capable of promoting quality service delivery to the people.

    “In the past, assistance to political parties was considered as taboo by development partners and as interference in domestic affairs by programme countries.

    “More recently, there has been a growing acceptance of and request for impartial assistance.

    “It is also in the area of adoption of norms for engaging with parties on a transparent, inclusive and equitable basis that does not favour one party or philosophy over another,’’ Bwalya said.

    In his remark, IPAC National Chairman, Alhaji Mohammadu Nalado, was hopeful that the workshop would help the politicals parties in addressing most of the gaps.

    Nalado who was represented by IPAC Deputy National Chairman, Dr Onwubuya Breakforth, noted that the lessons that would have been learnt at the workshop would help to reduce litigations after elections, especially the forthcoming Anambra governorship and the 2019 general elections.

    “There are a lot of lessons to learn here, especially the area of screening and nomination of candidates, parties’ primaries, accountability and due process within political parties,’’ he said.

  • UNDP to support NSCDC’s dispute resolution scheme – Official

    UNDP to support NSCDC’s dispute resolution scheme – Official

    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Monday it would support the conflict and dispute resolution programme of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    UNDP’s Security Consultant, Alhaji Mutiullah Olasupo, told newsmen in Maiduguri after a courtesy visit to the Borno Commandant of NSCDC, Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, that the organisation would enhance the corps’ Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) operation.

    Olasupo said that UNDP would rehabilitate ADR centres in the state and equip them with modern equipment to improve the peace officers’ mediation techniques.

    According to him, UNDP will also provide training, utility vehicles, communication gadgets and technical support to the corps to expose them to modern dispute management and resolution techniques.

    The consultant further said that UNDP was in Borno to appraise the performance of the corps and consider areas of collaboration.

    “Nigeria is one of the countries that had lost its Peace Sustainable Development Goal.

    ‘‘And it has become a global phenomenon that the only alternative to ending any sensitive conflict or violence is through dispute resolution.

    “UNDP is keen in providing support to the Nigerian government and its security agencies in its peace building efforts.

    “We discovered that NSCDC has added advantage in view of its close relationship with the civic population.

    ‘‘UNDP is very keen in providing new operational strategies to the corps.

    “We discovered that most of the state commands of NSCDC were not conducive. So UN will provide additional peace clinics to build confidence on the civic populace.

    “Boko Haram insurgency would have been tackled if a peaceful resolution was given a chance.

    ‘‘When you have crises in the society and you don’t react to tackle them on time, the crises will degenerate and become violent conflicts,” he said.

    Olasupo expressed dismay over the large number of failed litigations due to prolonged and cumbersome court procedures.

    Also speaking, the Borno Commandant of NSCDC disclosed that the command had resolved more than 5,000 disputes in the past six months, and registered at least 40 civic cases on a monthly basis.

    Abdullahi said the alternative dispute resolutions department of the command had also recovered more than N50 million in the course of resolving disputes.

  • UNDP urges FG to ensure new mining road map poses no challenges

    UNDP urges FG to ensure new mining road map poses no challenges

    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has advised the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to ensure that its current road map would not encounter challenges that faced previous road maps.

    The UNDP gave the advice in its “Nigeria Gap Analysis Report on Extractive Industries’’ just released in Abuja.

    The report observed that the current road map was not the first document produced by the ministry and advised that the sector leadership should ensure that the document would not face the same challenges like the previous road maps.

    The UNDP said the current road map was aimed at correcting and finding solutions to the nation’s mineral management, adding that it should be put to use to meet its target.

    “The mining road map is a commendable guide that has the potential to turn the fortunes of the solid minerals’ sector, but if only it is appropriately funded,” it said.

    According to the report, the overall solid mineral management regime is sound, but inadequate.

    “Its soundness lies in the extent to which the law obliges the state to set up and fund a solid minerals development fund for the development of the sector.”

    The UNDP report said that Nigeria had suffered what could be described as “a governance perception crises on implementation of established laws and regulations”.

    It said that Nigeria ranked poorly on numbers of governance measures and this already positioned the country unfavourably in the eyes of the global community.

    It said that in spite the country’s solid minerals laws’ soundness, it had continued to be undermined by lacking of funding or poorly funded mandate and poor implementation of the law.

    According to the report, attracting foreign big players is a noble cause which will increase the pace of development of Nigeria’s solid minerals sector in the next five to seven years to the extent to which it reviews Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) law.

    It advised government to make ASM more friendly and less resources draining as well as develop a strategy to develop the ASM sector in general and the sector in particular.

  • ICPC plans grassroots training on budget tracking

    ICPC plans grassroots training on budget tracking

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is to train citizens at the grassroots on budget tracking in an effort to make budget to respond to people’s needs.

    The ICPC’s spokesperson, Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, said in Abuja on Thursday that the commission had concluded plans for the training.

    She said that the training, to be sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), would begin in June across the six geo-political zones of the country.

    According to Okoduwa, the training will also enable people at the grassroots to take actions that will impact positively on them.

    She added that it would ensure that it would demystify the budget process and engender development at the grassroots.

    “The outcome should be a citizenry empowered with confidence, skills and knowledge to recognise their rights and accept responsibility to demand those rights through constructive engagement,” Okoduwa said.