The Federal Government is courting the United Nations’ with a view to accessing $10 billion single digit interest funding to address humanitarian challenges in order to generate wealth for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Minister for Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubaka Bagudu, made the proposal on behalf of the Federal Government yesterday in Abuja during a roundtable on humanitarian development and peace-building approaches to durable solutions for IDPs.
He urged the United Nations to assist Nigeria in accessing long-term funding to address humanitarian challenges associated with internal displacement.
He stated that if the Federal Government had access to $10 billion at four per cent, it could be used to address the country’s humanitarian challenges, explaining that it could generate wealth for the internally displaced persons.
The minister stated that funds could be obtained from the capital market for longterm investments to address humanitarian issues emphasising that development partners’ funding was no longer sustainable as grants were decreasing.
Bagudu stated that the Federal Government’s macroeconomic policies were designed to curb waste and enable the three tiers of government to better handle developmental issues. He stated that increased revenue to the states was intentional to enable them to handle developmental issues such as the provision of infrastructure.
The minister said the Renewed Hope Ward-based Development Plan and the Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities (SOLID), initiated by the President Bola Tinubu administration, would assist in addressing humanitarian challenges by mapping economic opportunities across the country’s 8809 wards for scale-up.
In his contribution, Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Yusuf Sununu, stated that durable solutions in the country must evolve from response to prevention, from donor dependency to national leadership, and from fragmented action to whole-of-government accountability. According to him, “Nigeria’s humanitarian response is experiencing a steep reduction in external funding, the program programme continuity and the scale of operations.”
He praised the collaboration between the government and development partners, explaining that it would transform the humanitarian burden into opportunities for inclusive development and national stability.
The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mr. Nigeria, Mr Mohammed Fall, praised the Federal Government for its efforts in addressing humanitarian issues in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and other states in the North Central region.
