The Federal Government has reached a pact with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish humanitarian response stations nationwide, aimed at offering relief to those affected by disasters.
Dr. Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, shared this information in Dubai following discussions with officials of the Emirati Government during the ongoing COP28, United Nations Climate Change Conference.
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She said Nigeria sought the assistance of the UAE to tackle humanitarian crises arising from insurgence, particularly in the northeast, as well as to end the endemic poverty in other parts of the country.
According to her,
“We have held a lot of interactions at different levels, of course, with the government of the UAE, that’s interacting with the Minister for Tolerance in the country who happens to be a brother to the President. We spoke extensively on how we can work together to pull millions of managers out of poverty.
“We have had interactions with the World Trade Organization DG, who is one of our own. We have had interactions with the president of the Islamic Development Bank and it’s centred on humanitarian response, and other poverty alleviation programs that they can come in to support the country.
“And then finally, we had interaction with the Red Crescent, which is like the Red Cross here in Dubai and they are ready to come into Nigeria and support us to build a more resilient humanitarian response system across the country”.
Also, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, said that the Nigerian delegation to the climate change conference was determined to canvass for a position that benefits the country and its people.
“I think this year’s COP we are expecting a lot from it.
“The main focus of this year’s conference has to do with the issue of adaptation, and mitigation. The biggest issue is those of loss and damage, which I think affects most of us because we have for a long time been victims of climate change, which is not our own making.
“It is the making of the industrialized world that has created a lot of climate issues that have affected vulnerable countries, of which Nigeria is part of it: desertification, coastal erosion and a lot of issues that led to all this. So, this year, I think we are lucky. The current president of COP is very determined. I was very impressed with his speech,” he added.
Lawal said Nigeria would present its feelings on the various issues of climate change effects and remediation, adding:
“I think this year’s COP is going to be very good for us.
That’s why you see a large number of people from Nigeria coming because they’re going to various sectors: the issue of carbon grading, the issue of mitigation, the issue of methane, which the President yesterday, highlighted, Nigeria’s position,” he added.
He pointed out that the advanced world has stated its positions and “are already paying $30 billion in that area, and we have over $100 billion in the area of loss and damage, which is the issue of those that have been victims of flood and all sorts of consequences.”