The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has acknowledged the role of the media, humanitarian actors as well as multilateral and bilateral partners as the Ministry commemorates the first anniversary of its creation.
The Ministry was established on August 21, 2019, by His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR to coordinate the management of humanitarian interventions, prevention and mitigations of disasters as well as coordination of the country’s social investment programmes.
Farouq in a statement circulated to the media noted that it has been a very “eventful, interesting and challenging year in which we have learnt to navigate the peculiar geography of humanitarian interventions, disaster management and social interventions but in it all, we have kept our eyes on fulfilling our mandate which requires that we provide humanitarian interventions, prevent and mitigate disaster while evolving social safety net strategies that help us build resilience for the future.”
Describing the President as a visionary for creating the Ministry which has been in the vanguard of battling the pandemic, Sadiya Umar Farouq thanked the president for putting her in the driver’s seat of the Ministry and acknowledged that over the first one year in the saddle she has “gained new insights, learnt valuable lessons and emerged with fresh perspectives regarding what works and what doesn’t.”
Commending the role of the media, the minister described the Fourth Estate of the Realm as “both partner and ally which remains an important stakeholder group and I want to take out time today to acknowledge the work you do.” Noting that it is not in her place to “mark her own scorecard” she allowed, however, that she and her colleagues remain resolute in “our commitment to fulfilling our mandate which has informed the theme of our anniversary – Service2Humanity.”
The Minister extended special commendations to “the humanitarian actors and our partners in the humanitarian sector from the UN Agencies like OCHA, IOM, UNHCR and the World Food Programme, the World Bank, USAID and the EU as well as many other bilateral partners who continue to provide humanitarian assistance despite security challenges and at great personal cost.” She also acknowledged the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in one theatre of conflict or the other during the period.
The minister clarified that the ministry’s one-year anniversary compels them to do more. “As we mark our anniversary, I want to say that it is a call to more service and a recommitment to our mandate. We have to find new ways to broaden the nexus that connects the management of disasters, provision of humanitarian assistance and the development of social safety nets which help us build resilience for the future.
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