HIGHLIGHTS President Buhari Receives ILO Director- General
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AUGUST 2019 President Buhari Receives ILO Director- HIGHLIGHTS General, Restates Commitment to Job Creation UN, Sokoto Government Sign Work Plan, launch Spotlight Initiative P. 3 UN, Partners Mark Youth Day, Advo- cate Support for Young People P. 6 Youth participation key to end open defecation in Nigeria P. 8 Sultan of Sokoto Receives UNCT, Commits to Women & Children’s Education, Health Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari (2nd right) welcomes Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Guy Ryder (2nd left), to the State House Abuja while the Director of ILO in Nigeria, Mr Denis Zulu (1st from left) and Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Aba Kyari (1st right) look on. igeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on 1 August 2019, received in audience the L-R: Country Representative of UNICEF, Mr Peter Haw- N Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Guy Ryder, at the kins; Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Muhammadu at the State House, Abuja and restated the commitment of his administration to cre- Sa'ad Abubakar; UN Resident and Humanitarian Coor- dinator, Mr Edward Kallon; Officer-In-Charge of UN- ating jobs for the youthful population of Nigeria. FPA, Mr Mamadou Kante and Deputy Country Repre- President Buhari said: “In the last four years, this government prioritised Agriculture, sentative of UN Women, Mr Lansana Wonneh Housing and Infrastructure development. Our focus in these areas was to create jobs today and ensure peace and equitable prosperity for future generations.” He described he Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Mu- Nigeria as “a country with a population of close to 200 million,” which “has to be able to T hammadu Sa'ad Abubakar, has re- feed itself. We cannot rely on importing food.” affirmed his commitment to women and chil- ILO’s Director-General Guy Ryder, disclosed that the organisation had worked with dren's education and health. He spoke on 26 Nigeria’s Ministry of Labour on employment policies for youths but noted that what was August 2019, as he received in audience, the left was the implementation. United Nations Nigeria team led by the Resi- “We have worked with the labour ministry to prepare employment policies about dent and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Ed- youths’ employment, migration safety and health productivity. “The focus is the practi- ward Kallon. "A child's first teacher is a woman cal implementation of these plans”, He explained. and she must be educated. Our children must Mr Ryder further said that he was in Nigeria to attend the Global Youth Employment go to school. If you have education, you will go Forum where over 60 countries had gathered to address practically the most pressing for ante-natal and deliver safely and without challenge of finding decent jobs for young people. complications," said the Sultan. He also expressed the commitment of the Organisation to existing partnership and co- On insecurity and violent extremism, His operation with Nigeria. Eminence...continue on page 2 2019: International Year of Indigenous Languages Humanitarian Community in Nigeria Commemorates Ten Years Since Start of the Crisis in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states Ambassadors demonstrating handwashing he humanitarian community convened at the UN House in people are still in dire need of humanitarian assistance and 1.8 Abuja on 31 July 2019 in remembrance of ten years since T million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states have been up- the start of the crisis in north-east Nigeria, predominantly rooted from their homes, more than 80 per cent of them women affecting Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. and children. So far this year, the humanitarian community has Senior officials from the United Nations, international and reached some 2.5 million people with urgent, life-saving aid. national NGOs, representatives from the diplomatic and donor community, and the Government represented by His Excellency Sultan of Sokoto Receives UNCT...continued from pg. 1 the State Governor of Yobe, the Chairman of the North East De- velopment Commission (NEDC), and the director General of the ...the Sultan of Sokoto, identified illiteracy as the root cause National Emergency Agency (NEMA) among others solemnly of extremism. He explained, "Illiteracy is the root of our marked the occasion and held a moment of silence for the tens of problems. It breeds extremism and Islam abhors extrem- thousands of civilians killed and the millions of people affected. ism." “We are here today to remember those who have lost their lives in the conflict, and to remind of those still struggling to sur- Earlier, Mr Kallon called for revitalisation of the tradition- vive and rebuild their lives. Ten years on, it is not the time for us al peace architecture to address the challenges of radicalisa- to spare any effort. In this very critical period, we must collective- tion and violent extremism in the country. ly redouble efforts, with support at all levels – locally, nationally On the EU-UN Spotlight initiative to end violence against and internationally,” said Mr. Edward Kallon, United Nations women and girls, the Resident Coordinator, expressed con- Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria. cern about sexual and gender-based violence in the State To raise awareness of the decade-long crisis and garner sup- and emphasised the need to promote more vigorously, port for the response, the UN and international NGOs also held a women and children's education. "Spotlight Initiative recog- virtual reality experience called “Holding On” which shares the nises the important role of traditional and religious institu- real-life story of Hannatu, a woman from Borno State, who was displaced from Baga town in Kukawa LGA to Maiduguri. The re- tions in the empowerment of women and girls with life- membrance ceremony also served as a launch for this virtual saving information and education. reality experience, which was open for two weeks at Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja and provided an opportunity for the public to expe- rience the stories of conflict-affected people in the north-east firsthand. “This is the first time the Holding On exhibition visits one of the countries where these stories originate from and it is a unique opportunity for the people of Nigeria to experience these testimonies through their own eyes,” said Mr. Richard Danziger, IOM Regional Director for West and Central Africa. A digital campaign with the tagline #10YearsTooMany comple- mented both the official remembrance ceremony and the two- week virtual reality experience, sharing both staggering statistics of how many people have been affected as well as the achieve- ments of humanitarian partners in averting the worst of the cri- Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar (Left) presents sis. Ten years since the start of the conflict, some 7.1 million his book to the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Edward Kal- lon, during the visit of the UN Country Team to his palace. 2 UN, Sokoto Government Sign Partnership Framework Annual Work Plan, launch Spotlight Initiative he United Nations system in Nigeria and the Sokoto State T Government have signed the United Nations Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (UNSDPF) State Annual Work Plan and the Delivery as One. The document which was jointly signed on 26 August 2019, by Governor Aminu W. Tambuwal of Sokoto State and the UN Resi- dent/ Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon at the Gov- ernment House in Sokoto, requires all the UN Agencies with op- erations in Sokoto State to work coherently with the State gov- ernment and deliver as one for greater impact. The signing ceremony was held in the Council Chambers of the Government House shortly before the flag-off of the European Union-United Nations Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women and girls in the State. The UN Resident-Coordinator Edward Kallon and the Sokoto Governor Aminu W. Tambuwal of Sokoto State (Left) and the UN Resident/ State Governor, H.E. Aminu Tambuwal, jointly performed the flag Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon (Right) at the Government -off ceremony which was attended by the State's Executive Coun- House in Sokoto. cil members and some members of the UN Country Team. Addressing the audience at the Council Chambers of the Gov- ernment House, Mr Kallon noted the concern about sexual and gender-based violence and underscored the importance of access to education and health facilities in addressing majority of the challenges. "Spotlight initiative recognises the need to work with traditional institutions to empower women and girls to contrib- ute better to national development." He said, "Youth involve- ment in implementation of Spotlight initiative is a critical success factor." Governor Tambuwal expressed appreciation concerning the choice of Sokoto State as one of the 5 + 1 States in the implemen- tation of the Spotlight project. "We will support the UN's efforts to achieve the objectives of Spotlight initiative and the Sustaina- ble Development Goals". On gender equality he explained the State was making pro- gress, although slow. Sokoto State has three female members of Governor Aminu W. Tambuwal of Sokoto State and the UN Resident/ Humani- cabinet, and more need to be done to empower women to com- tarian Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon, officially flag-off the Spotlight Initiative at the Government House in Sokoto pete favourably. Spotlight Partners’ Orientation Workshop Opens in Lagos, Clarifies Roles owards ensuring a deeper understanding of implementa- streets and those out of school, women and girls living in rural T tion deliverables for the Spotlight Initiative to end violence areas and in deprived urban areas, are engaged and are reached. against women and girls, a three-Day partners` orientation work- Spotlight Initiative is a global, multi-year partnership between Eu- shop, was organised on 15 August 2019, in Lagos.