The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, has expressed the Ministry’s interest in partnering with Switzerland on humanitarian interventions and responses.
The Minister stated this when she paid host to the Swiss Ambassador, His Excellency, Georg Steiner, who was in the Ministry with his team on a courtesy visit.
She said the Ministry has five key priority areas namely strengthening policy and legal frameworks, evidence based system, institutional framework, optimising funding and sourcing opportunities, mainstreaming the SDGs, statistical planning and budget systems. Some of the 17 goals of the SDGs fall within the Social Intervention Programme of the Ministry. The Ministry is very keen on data decision making which helps in this resource management as well as targeted interventions.
“We want to see how we can partner with you given your technical expertise in humanitarian responses and upholding international humanitarian principles and laws. We need support in the areas of development and implementation and responses as we are developing our strategic framework as well as technical assistance in line with the mandate of the Ministry” she requested.
Earlier, the Swiss Ambassador, His Excellency, Geoorg Steiner, expressed the commitment of the Swiss Government to continue to partner with Nigeria in the Field of humanitarian support and migration. He added that the Switzerland wants to provide solid, efficient and effective humanitarian support for the benefit of Nigerians in the coming years in the fields of food security, livelihood, protection for the Internally Displaced Persons and with regards to strengthening local capacities.
He commended the Minister for Chairing the Humanitarian Dialogue Policy Forum inaugurated a week ago accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, which is an indication that Nigeria has a strong leadership in such a crucial area.
He said that he is proud of the partnership over the years and Swiss is very much committed to continue to build on the strong foundation and to add value to Nigeria especially in the area of migration and humanitarian interventions.
Rhoda Ishaku Iliya
