Federal Government on Friday inaugurated the Committee on the implementation and institutionalisation of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Strategic Roadmap and Coordinating framework.

Speaking during the inauguration, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr. Nasir Sani-Manzo explained that members of the Committee were drawn from various Departments and Agencies under the Ministry.

He explained that the ‘Roadmap aptly themed: ‘Mapping out a life of dignity for all,’ was conceived from the Ministry’s mandate when it was established in August, 2019 which is to “develop humanitarian policies, coordinate National and International humanitarian interventions, ensure strategic disaster mitigation, preparedness and response and manage the formulation and implementation of fair focused social inclusion and protection programmes in Nigeria”.

In the bid to achieve the feat, he noted that the Ministry developed seven strategic pillars, namely: Strengthening Policies and Institutional Frameworks, Building Evidence-Based systems for Transparency and Accessibility, Enhanced Programme Delivery through Effective Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism, Optimizing Funding and Resourcing Opportunities, Strategic Partnership, Collaborations and Disability Inclusion, Implementation of a robust Humanitarian Coordination system for improved strategic Communication & Governance and Mainstreaming of sustainable Development Goals and Integration of Social Initiatives and Investment Programmes.

He added that a standardized coordination framework was developed to enable the Ministry to “lead an Inclusive Innovative Future-Thinking Ecosystem (L.I.F.E). This Framework focuses on collaboration between the Ministry, its Agencies and programmes so as to have a central task of aligning all independent mandates to execute the overall Ministry’s vision which is “to create sustainable and inclusive systems that promote human dignity in Nigeria.”

While stressing the need for all departments and Agencies to take the task of implementing the contents of the document seriously, he urged the members of the committee to move into action immediately, harmonise the work and put up a timeline of action.

He also stated that the Ministry will be organising the first Nigeria International Humanitarian Summit on the 9th February, 2023 and encouraged all stakeholders to key into the event.

The Director Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr. Peter Nwakpa, disclosed that the Roadmap is a five-year strategic plan of action built on seven pillars and developed to provide policy direction for the Ministry and its Agencies with the aim of achieving the mandate, vision and mission of the Ministry in coordinating the activities of the humanitarian sector.