Ban Commends FG’s Leadership Role On MDGs  The UN Secretary-Gener al, Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday commended the Federal Government for its leadership initiative and coordinating role on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ban made the commendation in his message to the event on transformative agenda for sustainable development in Nigeria and Africa: Lessons, Actions and Emerging Perspectives hosted by President Goodluck Jonathan. The UN correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event took place at the UN Millennium Plaza in New York. Represented by Ms Amina Mohammed, his Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, Ban said that the ``Millennium Development Goals are our collective promise to the world’s most vulnerable people’’. According to him, meeting the goals requires partnerships, policies and resources that accelerate progress. He said that the MDGs Acceleration Framework, introduced by the government of Nigeria with the support of the UN, was a stellar example. ``I applaud the leadership and commitment of Nigeria, and also the governments of Ghana, Kenya and South Africa in striving to accelerate progress. ``At the same time, we must set a development agenda for beyond 2015 with poverty reduction and sustainable development at its core. ``This means greater focus on decent jobs, better governance, freedom from crime and violence and living within the natural boundaries of our planet,’’ he said. The UN scribe said that Nigeria was an early mover on the `MY World survey’ in which over 140,000 people took part. He said that the information gathered had provided a vast amount of insight on the concerns and hopes of women, men, girls and boys throughout the country. Ban said the top eight priorities for Nigeria in the `MY World survey’ reflected similar results for Africa as a whole, and notably included better job opportunities and infrastructure. ``Your commitment in Nigeria and across the continent of Africa will help us all improve our efforts to meet people’s needs at national, regional and global levels. ``In turn, this will contribute to a more effective multilateral system that is ‘fit for purpose’ to deliver on the post-2015 next development agenda,’’ Ban said. In his remarks, Jonathan said that the country attained appreciable results in MDG projects and was bound to continue with greater achievements on Post-2015 MDG. He, however, noted that electricity was necessary for African countries to attain the MDGs, stressing that until the continent was able to achieve sustainable power supply, the MDGs would remain elusive. Jonathan applauded Ondo State for its tremendous achievement on MDGs, adding that some states in the country were also making efforts. Also, the President of Ghana, John Mahama, said that as the African continent struggle to achieve the MDGs, the girl-child should not be given out for early marriage. He suggested that the child-girl should be allowed to stay longer in school. Present at the event were the Presidents of Liberia, Johnson Sirleaf; Senegal, Macky Sall; Ghana, John Mahama and the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, Prof. Joy Ogwu. Others were Gov. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State; Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Administrator, UNDP, Ms Helen Clark. (NAN)
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 12:32:10 +0000
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