79th UNGA: NPC Boss Advocates for Inclusion to Achieve UN Agenda”
Chairperson,
Excellencies,
Colleagues,
My delegation congratulates you and members of Bureau on your election and we assure you of full cooperation in discharging your onerous responsibilities during your tenure. My delegation aligns with statement by Uganda on behalf of G77 and China, and I wish to deliver the following in my national capacity.
The world is facing multidimensional challenges, one which no single nation can solve. The theme of this year’s General Assembly “Unity and diversity for advancing peace, sustainable development and human dignity, everywhere and for all’ leaves us in no doubt that there is still more work to be done to fulfill the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2030, as few years are remaining for its implementation. In the same vein, my delegation strongly believes in the attainment of the goals of the ‘Pact for the Future’, the ‘Global Digital Compact’ and the ‘Decleclaration of Future Generations’ that requires political will for their implementation The world is faced with an accumulation of humanitarian, economic, social, food and huge climate crises that represent a huge challenge for social development policies. Member States must work together to implement the right policies to ensure that people can feed themselves and not to fall into poverty. Many developing countries are on the verge of famine. To this end, UN and its agencies should continue championing inclusive, just and sustainable development for all.In ensuring that no one is left behind, the government of Nigeria has made it a priority to include the most vulnerable people in all development programmes and frameworks, by building a globally competitive economy. Nigeria recognizes the emerging need for social development and has, accordingly, designed appropriate social development policies and programmes targeting economic growth, job creation, improving security, food production, health and education. The aim is to ensure healthy lives and the promotion of well-being for all at all ages, in line with SDG-3.
The Nigerian Government launched a social protection system; the National Social Safety Nets Project under the supervision of the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) It is part of the government plan to reduce extreme poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition, inequality and ameliorate the suffering of the vulnerable families. This initiative is directly and indirectly impacting the lives of poor Nigerians through its four cluster programmes namely: the N-POWER Programme, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) and the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCT). The Conditional Cash Transfer Programme has just been updated to include additional 15 million households to benefit from the project.
Furthermore, the government has launched a student loan scheme aimed at providing financial assistance to individuals from poor backgrounds to assure quality education for all. Access to Tertiary Education Act, also known as Student Loan Act, signed into law in 2023 is expected to provide easy access to poor students through interest-free loan. The scheme would help increase enrolment in school, address school retention, reduce dropout rate due to financial constraints and ensure quality learning outcomes. We believe that our youths are leaders of tomorrow; therefore, government is organizing a National Youth Conference that would enable them to participate actively in nation-building and drive policies that would positively impact their lives.
Mr. Chair, Every year, we continue to discuss how we have tackled numerous challenges of terrorism, armed conflict, inequality, poverty, racial discrimination, human rights abuse, food crisis, hunger, irregular migration, piracy, global pandemic, hyper-inflation, nuclear proliferation, grinding debt burden, climate change etc. The continued manifestation of these challenges testifies to our failings rather than to any lofty achievements on our part.
I would like to underscore the need to remind Member States that the United Nations stands for inclusiveness anchored on the tripod of peace, sustainable development and human rights. Conflict prevention is the main reason while UN exists. But the task of prevention become even more difficult when conflict becomes normalized; when even the condemnation of violence and civilian casualties and calls for a ceasefire, are regarded as controversial. In this context, my delegation condemns the humanitarian catastrophy, systemic and continuous loss of civilian lives, mostly defenseless women and children caught up in wars around the world. Nigeria calls on Member States and the larger international community to bring an end to unnecessary and protracted conflicts that bring about civilian casualties and intolerable sufferings, collectively ensure peace, unity and security in the world.
In conclusion, Mr. Chair, I would like to call for more collaboration between Member States, UN Agencies and partners to be able to tackle the multiple crises facing the world, while also building resilience to eradicate poverty.
I thank you.