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Tag: UN

  • UN highlights alarming trends in drugs use in Nigeria

    UN highlights alarming trends in drugs use in Nigeria

    The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says Nigeria, and West and Central Africa face “disruptive and destabilising” new trends regarding drug trafficking, drug use and other crimes.
    The Executive Director of UNODC, Mr Yury Fedotov, said this while briefing the UN Security Council session, presided by Côte d’Ivoire.
    The briefing was the council’s first thematic meeting on ‘Drug Trafficking and its Threat to Stability, Peace and Security’, since December 2013.

    Fedotov said the UNODC’s 2018 World Drug Report shows that West and Central Africa, along with North African countries, accounted for 87 per cent of pharmaceutical opioids seized globally.
    The UNODC chief said: “This is largely due to rising use of tramadol, an opioid painkiller that is widely trafficked for non-medical use in the region.

    “Africa, along with Asia, also saw the largest rises in cocaine seizures, suggesting that cocaine trafficking and consumption have spread to these markets.
    “Through UNODC AIRCOP, which works in several African airports, we know that heroin seizures are on the rise across the region with Lagos, Accra and Cotonou airports high on the list, closely followed by Bamako, Lomé and Ouagadougou.
    “Methamphetamine seizures have now almost reached the same level as cocaine seizures, with Lagos and Cotonou being the main airports concerned.

    “Recently, an increased number of seizures of precursors such as Ephedrine and Phenacetine has been recorded at both airports, which may indicate the existence of new laboratories producing psychoactive substances.’’
    The head of UNODC noted increasing transiting of opiates through West Africa en route to European and North American markets.
    “UNODC is registering new alarming trends on drug trafficking in West and Central Africa with disruptive and destabilising effects on governance, security, economic growth and public health,” he said.
    Drug use is also rising across the region, “representing a serious threat to public health,” according to the UN crime fighting chief.
    Fedotov noted that the agency estimated that in 2016, there were more than 34 million cannabis users and 1.8 million cocaine users in West and Central Africa.

    Only one in 18 drug users with addiction issues have access to medical treatment, Fedotov regretted.
    At the same time, he said, the region is grappling with many other crime-related security threats, including arms trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, cybercrime and maritime piracy as well as threats posed by terrorism.
    Fedotov noted that there were strong linkages between illicit trafficking and the financing of armed groups, a fact that the Security Council had recognised before, including in previous presidential statements.

    “In August 2018, the Security Council expressed serious concerns about continuing terrorist activities of Boko Haram and other groups in the Lake Chad Basin;
    “links between illicit trafficking in wildlife and natural resources and financing of armed groups; maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea;
    “and mercenary activities linked to transnational organised crime, including trafficking in persons, arms and drugs as well as the smuggling of migrants.”
    He stressed the need for “urgent and determined international action to support and address the threat of drugs and help pave the way for a safer, healthier and more prosperous West and Central Africa”.

  • World loses $2.3trn to corruption annually – UN

    World loses $2.3trn to corruption annually – UN

    Oliver Stolpe, Country Representative, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has said that the world loses $2.3 trillion to corruption annually.

    He disclosed this at the Corruption Risk Assessment (CRA) training organised for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies of member-countries of African Union (AU) in Abuja, on Monday.

    The training was organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was to also commemorate the 2018 UN International Anti-Corruption Day.

    Mr Stolpe quoted World Economic Forum which estimated the cost of corruption to be at least 2.3 trillion dollars a year, saying that it was five per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    “Corruption begets more corruption and results in a culture of impunity. It is that corruption present in all countries, including the rich and poor, North and South.

    “Let us stand on this International Day against Corruption together, united against the scourge.

    “It is an assault on the values of the UN. It robs societies of schools, hospitals and other vital services; it drives away foreign investment and it strips nations of their natural resources.

    “It undermines the Rule of Law, tax evasion, money laundering and other illicit flows,” he said.

    On his part, acting Chairman of ICPC, Musa Abubakar, said corruption risk assessment was one of the preventive tools employed by ICPC to plug systemic loopholes which provided opportunity for corruption in the public sector.

    According to him, it was first developed in the country in 2011 with the assistance of the United Nations Development Virtual School in Bogota, Colombia, which trained the first set of corruption risk assessors.

    “Since then, a new set of 60 persons have so far received training at the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria and certified as corruption risk assessors, courtesy UNDP and UNODC.”

    Mr Abubakar also said the commission had produced reports of CRA on the ports sector, two Nigerian International Airports and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) charged with promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    “The latest of these reports being the CRA of Nigeria’s e-government systems that is, Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIMIS).”

    He said when loopholes and leakages in the systems were plugged, people would be denied access to public funds and as such, would not have the opportunity to misappropriate it.

    “This is against pursuing individuals after the deed is done, an action that drains a lot of resources amidst challenges that create uncertainty of outcomes.

    “To this end, ICPC stands on the principle that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a tonne of remedy.”

    Mr Abubakar said reports revealed that the redeployment of TSA, IPPIS and GIFMIS had significantly reduced bureaucratic corruption in Nigeria.

    He said it was attributable to factors such as reduction in human interface and elimination of direct access to cash resources.

    Also, representative of ECOWAS Commission, Remi Ajibewa, congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership and chair of ECOWAS authority of Heads of States and Government.

    “This leadership has consistently provided support on constructive guidance to the ECOWAS Commission, enabling the commission to perform its mission and in advancing the promotion of good governance, integration and development in the region.”

    He commended the Mr Buhari’s fervent commitment in making transparency, accountability and integrity the cornerstone of governance in the region.

    “These qualities have undoubtedly contributed to earning the President’s appointment as the African Union Anti-Corruption Champion for 2018.”

    High point of the event was the presentation of the report of the CRA of Nigeria’s e-Government Systems by Mr Buhari.

  • $1trn paid in bribes, $2.6trn stolen annually

    The UN says one trillion dollars are paid in bribes annually, while another 2.6 trillion are stolen, all due to corruption.

    The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, while counting the costs of corruption, said values and economic development were under assault, as trillions of dollars were lost.

    He said every year, trillions of dollars – equivalent to more than five per cent of global Gross Domestic Product – are paid in bribes or stolen through corruption.

    Guterres deemed corruption “an assault on the values of the United Nations,” highlighting the pervasive crime.

    He said corruption “robs societies of schools, hospitals and other vital services, drives away foreign investment and strips nations of their natural resources”.

    The United Nations is fighting the global scourge, which affects both rich and poor countries, through initiatives like the global campaign launched jointly by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

    The campaign recognised corruption as one of the biggest impediments to achieving the SDGs, or 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agreed by all nations of the world in 2015, to advance the whole of humankind.

    UN said government officials, civil society, the private sector, and anti-corruption advocates could reference the 2018 anti-corruption campaign’s ‘Call to Action Matrix’, which offers recommendations for strategies to stand against corruption.

    Additionally, the United Nations Convention against Corruption, adopted in 2003, exists as the only legally-binding, universal anti-corruption instrument.

    The Convention’s far-reaching approach covers the full spectrum of corruption, and 186 Member States are parties to the Convention.

    Guterres called the Convention a “primary tool” for advancing the fight, and highlighted the positive outcomes made possible through its implementation.

    “Through the Convention’s peer review mechanism, we can work together to build a foundation of trust and accountability,” the UN chief said.

     

  • We won’t rest until remaining Chibok girls are released – Buhari

    We won’t rest until remaining Chibok girls are released – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged his government will not rest until the remaining Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2014 are safely released.

    According to a statement issued by President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari made the pledge on Monday in Katowice, Poland, during a bilateral meeting with Swiss President Alain Berset, on the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24.

    The Presidential aide said Buhari had spent the whole day at the International Conference Centre, Katowice, where he delivered his national address at the opening of the 12-day meeting of COP24.

    Shehu said the president had also met with several world leaders and visited the impressive Nigerian pavilion at the climate summit.

    During his meeting with the Swiss President, the Nigerian leader thanked the Swiss Confederation for its efforts and important role as intermediaries to secure the release of some Chibok girls.

    He assured him that the issue of the remaining kidnapped girls and other abducted persons would remain a ‘key priority’ for the Nigerian government.

    President Buhari and his Swiss counterpart, according to the statement, discussed joint strategies to ensure the safe return of the girls, building on the past successes of securing the release of some of the Chibok girls and other abducted persons in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

    The President also welcomed the Swiss President’s commitment to continue providing humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria and to ensure the safe release of the abducted school girls.

    ”We will continue to make the safe release of the remaining Chibok girls a priority and will welcome any kind of support from any quarters to make this happen, ” the President said.

    In separate bilateral meetings with the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda and the Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, President Buhari commended the country for a successful outing at the opening of the COP24 meeting in Katowice.

    The President told his Polish counterpart that Nigeria was facing serious climate change challenges, particularly the receding Lake Chad, which had been a source of livelihood to some 40 million people living in the region.

    ”Nigeria is totally committed to global efforts to mitigate and adapt to effects of climate change,” President Buhari told the Polish leader, whose country is the president of COP24.

    In his meeting with Prime Minister Morawiecki, the President lauded the plan by the Polish Government to open a Trade Office in Lagos soon, promising that “investors who look to Nigeria can be ‘guaranteed’ of safe returns on their investments.’’

    He said: ”We have a vibrant and active young population and our government is doing so much on the Nigerian economy, including diversifying to non-oil sectors.

    ”We welcome increased cooperation with Poland and will encourage investments in other sectors of the economy like solid minerals and information technology.’’

    Morawiecki told President Buhari that traditionally 96 per cent of oil imports to Poland came from Saudi Arabia and Russia, adding ”but now we are looking at importing oil from Nigeria.”

    The Prime Minister noted as the fastest growing economy in the European Union, Poland had identified Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa, as three top investment destinations in Africa.

    ”We want the hub of our investment destination to be in Nigeria,” he added.

    The Polish Prime Minister welcomed the pledge by the Nigerian leader to immediately put in place a framework to encourage more Polish investments in Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, the President’s bilateral meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Van der Bellen, focused on the challenges of Lake Chad and what was required to recharge it.

    While noting that the Lake faced the two challenges of technology and financing, President Buhari told the Austrian leader that enormous financial resources and technology were required to transfer water to Lake Chad from the Congo Basin.

    Van der Bellen, who indicated his country’s interest to cooperate with Nigeria on recharging the Lake Chad, talked about climate change challenges in Austria including drought, glaciers melting, among others.

    President Buhari also met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and both leaders followed up on their past discussions, during their last meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, in July, which centred on trade, investments and partnerships in agriculture.

    The President welcomed the proposal by the Dutch Prime Minister to visit Abuja soon and promised that the Nigerian government would continue to provide a conducive business environment for existing and prospective Dutch investors.

    On the sidelines of COP24, President Buhari also met with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Jüri Ratas.

    The Prime Minister of the Northern European country sought Nigeria’s support on its bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2020 to 2021.

    “The two leaders also discussed bilateral cooperation and climate change mitigation,’’ the statement read.

     

  • UN condemns gang-rape of 125 women, girls in South Sudan

    The UN has condemned a series of brutal sexual assaults on 125 women and girls, travelling on the road to Bentiu, a town in the north of the war-ravaged South Sudan.

    The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said over the last 10 days, the women and girls had sought treatment after having been sexually assaulted, as they walked along roads near Nhialdu and Guit.

    The victims, who were on their way to the town near the Sudanese border, were also robbed and beaten, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country.

    The attacks were reportedly carried out by young men, some of whom wore civilian clothes while others were dressed in military uniforms.

    David Shearer, the head of UNMISS, termed the attacks “absolutely abhorrent” and demanded that they must stop.

    “The violent assaults happened in a Government-controlled area and it has primary responsibility for the safety of civilians,” he said.

    He said UNMISS had held urgent meetings with authorities and urged them to take immediate action to protect women and girls in the area and to hold the perpetrators of these terrible crimes to account..

    Shearer, who is also the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan, also called on armed groups in the area to “guarantee command and control” over their fighters to ensure rogue elements within their ranks are not involved in criminal acts.

    The UN mission had deployed patrols to the region to provide extra protection, as well as its human rights team to investigate and identify the perpetrators, he said.

    The head of UNMISS added that engineers from the mission were also clearing foliage from the sides of the road so attackers find it harder to hide while lying in wait.

    Now in its seventh year of existence, South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, has remained mired in instability and conflict, which has displaced millions from their homes.

    Earlier in 2018, President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar signed a new peace deal, and hopes are high that this will finally end the years of brutal conflict which have left millions homeless and hungry.

    Results of the agreement are still to be seen on the ground and many have cited a lack of trust between the parties as a key obstacle to peace.

  • COP24 to focus on carbon neutrality, gender equality – UN

    The two-week 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), which started on Sunday in Katowice, Poland, will focus on carbon neutrality and gender equality.

    The world is gathering to define how the 2015 Paris Agreement would be implemented and moved forward by its 197 parties, days after the UN sounded the alarm on the unprecedented levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

    Under the agreement, all countries have committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the global average rise in temperature to well below two degrees centigrade, and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees centigrade.

    Kicking off the two-week event in Katowice, a team of cyclists on electric bikes arrived from Vienna, having biked 600 km- to demonstrate the value of renewable energy in reducing emissions.

    The expedition was supported by the UN Global Compact, a group of private sector companies committed to sustainable development.

    The cycling team, called “Moving for Climate NOW”, made up of about 40 people from different institutions and countries was welcomed by UN Climate Change Deputy Executive Secretary, Ovais Sarmad, and Jakub Gibek, Head of the Climate Policy Unit of the Ministry of Environment of Poland.

    Sarmad said: “I commend the cyclists involved in this bike tour for inspiring the world to move in the right direction to fulfil the promise of the Paris Agreement.

    “This is the most important COP since the signing of the agreement, and we need initiatives like yours to testify that governments, the private sector and individuals can work together to tackle climate change by committing to multilateralism.”

    To limit COP24’s footprint and achieve carbon neutrality, the conference organisers have taken a series of measures.

    First, public transportation in the city is free of charge for the duration of the conference, for all participants.

    In addition, reusable materials have been used to set up the conference rooms, including carpets and backdrops, while recycled cardboard furniture was installed the main meeting spaces.

    The conference will also enforce a strict waste management policy: distinct recycling bins will be available in all meeting rooms; and the packaging of electronic equipment has been saved and would be reused after the conference is over.

    Also, the packaging of catering products is environmentally friendly; single-use plastic products are limited across the space; and overall, the conference is paper light, with official documents available only in digital versions.

    To limit greenhouse emissions due to transportation, virtual participation is encouraged and supported through live webcasts of the main events.

    Unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions due to the event will be tracked through a rigorous calculation by the organisers based on international standards.

    It is anticipated that COP24 will generate approximately 55,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

    To offset this, the Polish Government has committed to planting more than six million trees, capable of absorbing the equivalent of the conference’s emissions in the next 20 years.

  • Buhari arrives in Poland ahead of COP24

    Buhari arrives in Poland ahead of COP24

    President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in Krakow, Poland, ahead of the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

    The conference is slated for between Dec. 2 and 4.

    Buhari’s aide on New Media, Alhaji Bashir Ahmad, confirmed this development on his tweeter handle in Abuja.

    However, a report reaching the News Agency of Nigeria indicated that President Buhari and members of his entourage, who arrived at a Military Base Balice International Airport, Krakow, on Saturday evening, were `welcomed’ by snow as temperature dropped further to -3 degrees Centigrade.

    COP24 Summit is being held at the International Conference Centre (MCK), Katowice, an industrial hub, about 100 kilometers from Krakow.

    President Buhari’s first official engagement will be a town hall meeting in Krakow on Sunday evening, where he would meet and interact with Nigerians living in Poland.

    The President will, during the Leaders’ Summit at COP24 on Monday morning, deliver a national statement, highlighting Nigeria’s commitment to addressing climate change by implementing the goals set out in its National Determined Contributions.

    According to the organisers, the conference is expected to finalise the rules for implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change under the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) – the rule book for implementation.

    President Buhari’s spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, had on Friday in a statement, disclosed that during the Summit at COP24, Buhari would deliver a national statement highlighting Nigeria’s commitment to address climate change by implementing the goals in its National Determined Contributions.

    He said the president would also use the occasion to accentuate Nigeria’s willingness to work with international partners to reverse the negative effects of climate change in Africa and the world over.

    Adesina said the president would also highlight the need for developed nations to scale up their emission reduction activities, to limit the increase in average global temperatures to well below 2 degrees centigrade between now and 2020.

    The Leaders’ Summit is expected to adopt a ‘‘Declaration on Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia,’’ – named after the region of Poland where this year’s climate conference is taking place.

    He observed that Nigeria, as a member of the Committee of the African Heads of State on Climate Change, would continue to address the challenges occasioned by climate change.

    The committee is a group of 10 African countries that meets and takes positions concerning issues of climate change on behalf of the continent.

    “Nigeria has been at the forefront of advancing policies and initiatives aimed at addressing significant challenges occasioned by climate change such as reviving the Lake Chad, halting and reversing desertification, flooding, ocean surge and oil spillage.

    Adesina, who is the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, said that President Buhari would continue to champion these pressing issues at COP24 in Katowice, among others.

    He also said the president would reiterate Nigeria’s position on the need for African countries to access financial resources, especially the Green Climate Fund to draw up climate change adaptation policies and actions for implementation.

    “The Nigerian delegation will also showcase the policy measures and actions of the Federal Government at ensuring environmental sustainability and effectively combating climate change through several side events within the Nigerian pavilion.

    “While in Poland, President Buhari will hold an interactive session with the Nigerian community in that country.

    “The Nigerian leader is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the President of Poland Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki,’’ the statement added.

    Bugatti will be accompanied on the trip by governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Yahaya Bello and Abubakar Bello of Enugu, Kogi and Niger States.

    Others on his entourage include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, and the Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jibrin.

     

  • Armed groups threaten every child in CAR, UNICEF warns

    Armed groups threaten every child in CAR, UNICEF warns

    The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that deteriorating crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) has left practically every child needing protection from armed groups.

    UNICEF, in a new study, expressed worry that armed groups now control four-fifths of the country’s territory, five years into the latest civil conflict to hit the country.

    The report, ‘Crisis in the Central African Republic: In a neglected emergency, children need aid, protection – and a future’, finds that life has become harsher and more dangerous for children.

    The UN children’s agency said thousands were trapped within armed groups, with thousands more, subject to sexual violence.

    Beyond the direct threats associated with the conflict, the country is suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis, with 1.5 million children now require humanitarian assistance, an increase of 300,000 since 2016.

    Over 43,000 children below five years old are projected to face an extremely high risk of death due to severe acute malnutrition next year, and one in four children is either displaced or a refugee.

    In addition, the number of attacks against aid-workers has more than quadrupled, from 67 incidents in all of 2017, to 294 in just the first eight and a half months of 2018.

    “This crisis is taking place in one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, and one of the most dangerous for humanitarian workers.

    “Conditions for children are desperate,” said Christine Muhigana, UNICEF’s Representative in the country.

    Civilians bear the brunt of the armed conflict in CAR, which is driven largely by fighting between a dozen or so armed groups over cattle routes and lands rich in diamonds, gold and uranium.

    The warring parties attack health and education facilities and their staff, together with mosques and churches, as well as sites where displaced people have taken shelter, UNICEF said.

    Consequently, almost 643,000 people – at least half of whom are children – were displaced across CAR, and over 573,000 had sought refuge in neighbouring countries as of September.

    Displaced children are being hit by a malnutrition crisis, many with extremely limited access to health care, safe water and sanitation and – for children forced into the bush – conditions are even more dire.

    CAR has the world’s second-highest newborn death rate and maternal mortality ratio, fewer than three out of five children make it through primary school, and almost half the population has no access to clean water.

    The country ranks 188 out of 189 countries on the UN’s Human Development Index, a composite indicator measuring life expectancy, income and education.

    In spite of the difficult and dangerous conditions in which its staff are operating, UNICEF said it was working to reach children in desperate need, in a variety of ways.

    These include providing lifesaving food to 890,000 women and children to stave off malnutrition, immunising children from deadly disease, providing emergency education and recreation, and aiding the recovery of children brutalised by armed groups.

    Notwithstanding the major upsurge in fighting and displacement, only 44 per cent of UNICEF’s $56.5 million funding appeal for 2018 had been met as of the end of October.

    “The children of the Central African Republic have been abandoned for too long. They need attention and help now, and they will need it for the long run,” Muhigana said.

  • Nigeria emerges chair of ECOWAS Group at UN

    Nigeria emerges chair of ECOWAS Group at UN

    Nigeria has emerged the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Group at the United Nations.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria replaced the Republic of Togo as chairman of the 15-nation sub-regional group.

    The Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Tijjani Bande, took over from his Togolese counterpart, Frank Kpayedo, at the sub-regional group’s meeting in New York.

    Mr Bande said Nigeria had always worked with other member-states of the group as ‘brothers’, including agreements on candidatures at the UN without conflicts.

    He noted that on July 28 at Lome, President Muhammadu Buhari was elected chairman of ECOWAS, recalling Mr Buhari was very thankful to his colleagues who urged him to take the lead for this year.

    “Nigeria wants to make sure that we continue to work for the stability and general wellbeing of the sub-region and the region, and as much as possible, we should speak with one voice.

    “We should also speak with one voice outside the continent because West Africa works collaboratively with all other sub-regions on the continent.

    “Nigeria will do the best it can to strengthen the bonds of friendship within the region and do the work we are here to do at this very important platform in a better way and with more assured results for the benefit of all.

    “The West African sub-region has seen better coordination than most sub-regions that operate here at the UN.

    “We have dealt, like at the ECOWAS Commission back home, with matters, particularly to do with stability of the region to the satisfaction of all, even for difficult situations.”

    Mr Bande pledged that Nigeria would continue to do all it could to help coordinate the Group’s work adding, throughout its tenure, the country would provide leadership on all issues.

    Speaking with NAN, the Nigerian envoy said it was a standard practice that ambassadors at the UN would chair the Group just as their heads of state.

    According to him, since Mr Buhari is chairing the ECOWAS heads of state, it follows that Nigeria at the UN should chair the group also.

    “The basic issue is simply to consult with our colleagues from the sub-region to see how the agenda of ECOWAS can be brought and made alive at the UN.

    “Our issues are peace and security, development, technology, agriculture, and speaking also in line with African region because ECOWAS coordinates what we do but we also work very well with the African Group here.

    “President Buhari’s discussion when he took over in Lome, was the same thing we have been discussing, whether as it relates to Guinea or whatever country.

    “As soon as there is an understanding within ECOWAS, we take it here at the UN as part of what we should also push forward; we have a very strong group of ambassadors here.

    “They (ECOWAS ambassadors) are very clear and they are also very strong within the UN’s various platforms, pushing our issues in terms of our priorities; this is what we intend to do as Buhari is also doing at the level of heads of state.”

    The ambassador of Togo, Kpayedo, thanked his colleagues for their support during his one-year tenure, and pledged support to Bande to succeed.

    The ECOWAS Permanent Observer to the UN, Kone Tanou, congratulated Mr Kpayedo on a successful tenure and commended the ambassadors for their trust in Nigeria’s envoy to lead the Group.

    “In few years of service in New York, you have shown great interest on multilateral diplomacy by investing yourself in preventive diplomacy, conflict prevention, peacebuilding and mediation,” Mr Tanou said of Mr Bande.

    Mariame Fofana, Deputy Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the UN, commended Togo for its coordination of the group, and congratulated Nigeria for assuming the Group’s head, pledging her country’s support.

    The representative of the Permanent Mission of Ghana, Solomon Korbieh, said “Nigeria is the pre-eminent power house in the sub-region”, adding in chairing the Group, “Nigeria will make us proud and also carry Africa’s light forward”.

     

  • Nigeria business leaders launch blueprint humanitarian fund

    Some business leaders in Nigeria on Thursday came together to launch a blueprint, first-ever joint humanitarian fund with the United Nations (UN), to address the humanitarian crisis in north-eastern part of the country.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the UN Nigeria Humanitarian Fund – Private Sector Initiative (NHF-PSI), as it is known, seeks to raise awareness and support from the business community in Nigeria to play an important role in the lives of vulnerable Nigerians.

    Officials of the UN present at the launch said the UN NHF, managed by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which has 17 donor countries that have raised 70 million dollars so far, became operational in May 2017.

    The partnership with the Nigerian private sector would see companies in the country support the UN NHF, and join donor countries that have already donated to the Fund, in the new blueprint, the NHF-PSI.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the NHF-PSI was an exciting initiative that would yield results in helping the 1.8 million displaced persons in the north-east region.

    Osinbajo represented by Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Assistant on Sustainable Development Goals, noted that some companies were already providing humanitarian assistance in the region.

    “This new initiative will further sharpen the efficiency of these supportive companies by giving them the opportunity to collaborate with the UN and also streamline their humanitarian efforts.

    “About 80 per cent of the people who need our help are women and children who continue to suffer deprivation and hardship that you and I may never have to face.

    “Therefore, I urge you all to work with this administration in the socio-economic rehabilitation of the region,” he said.

    Mrs Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations, said the launch was personal to her considering that she grew up in Maiduguri that is now affected by the crisis that had displaced millions and killed over 27,000 people in recent years.

    “The creative and generous efforts was about leveraging innovative partnerships between the public and private sector to have real impact.

    “Thanks to your vision and generosity, Nigerian business will be able to pool funds, resources and ideas to provide life-saving assistance to the population of North-East Nigeria.

    “The Nigeria Humanitarian Fund has already allocated nearly 70 million dollars in the 18 months to meet the urgent, life-saving needs of thousands of Nigeria,” she said.

    Mohammed said the fund would deal with the congestion in existing camps and treat hundreds of children with malnutrition.

    “The fund also highlights the cross-cutting impact of humanitarian work in health by providing assistance to contain cholera outbreak in north-east considered to be the country’s worst outbreak in the last ten years.

    “We at the United Nations are honoured to partner with you in saving lives and extending solutions and support to millions that are in need and to build on the progress made by the Government of Nigeria, by the international community, and by the Nigerian people themselves,” she said.

    Mohammed urged businesses to imbibe sustainable business practices that allow initiatives like NHF-PSI to provide humanitarian support in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.

    Edward Kallon, UN Humanitarian Coordinator, noted that by forging joint enterprise between deeply committed private, public and non-governmental actors, NHF-PSI presented a tremendous opportunity to raise the standard of humanitarian response in Nigeria and around the world.

    “Although Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, over 7 million people in north-east Nigeria are in need of life-saving assistance.

    “NHF-PSI is founded on the premise that Nigeria’s private sector not only cares profoundly for its nation’s most vulnerable, but also possesses the vision, resources and natural problem-solving ability to reduce it on an unprecedented scale if harnessed into collective action,” he said.

    Also, Mr Jim Ovia, Chairman, Zenith Bank Plc, said Nigeria with a population of over 200 million, should see the initiative as a wake-up call to support the fund with their widow’s mite.

    “The 70 million dollars was not contributed by Nigerians, launching the NHF-PSI is for us to emulate what other countries have done to assist the humanitarian crisis in our country,” he said.

    Ovia said the initiative was the first private sector collaboration with UN and urged other Nigerians to support and make the project sustainable.

    The Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, said Boko Haram had done a lot of damage to the state which would take years to rebuild and would cost about 300 million dollars.

    Represented by Senator Alli Ndume, Shettima thanked the donors for their humanitarian efforts in the north-east, adding that it would help restore stability and peace to the region.

    Members of the NHF-PSI steering group are Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Templars Ltd and amongst others.

    NHF-PSI expects to raise over USD300 million for the initiative in the coming years.