UNGA 79TH: NPC BOSS URGES COUNTRIES TO ADDRESS HUNGER, OTHER CLIMATE CHALLENGES

The Chairman of National Population Commission (NPC), Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra has urged countries to develop policies addressing hunger and other climate challenges.

Kwarra stated this while speaking at the 79th Third Committee Plenary Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He said Member States must work together to implement the right policies to ensure that people can feed themselves and not fall into poverty.

He expressed worry that many developing countries are on the verge of famine. “To this end, the 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, and inequality and ameliorate the suffering of 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 an 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 the Student Loan Act, signed into law in 2023 is expected to provide easy access to poor students through interest-free loans. 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, the 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.

“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.”