UNDP Seeks Dialogue To Tackle Nigeria’s Recession, Humanitarian Crisis

• Expresses Support To Eradicate Poverty, Reduce Inequality

Edward Kallon, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on Tuesday in Abuja called for tough policy choices by managers of the country’s economy to tackle the Nigeria’s twin problems of recession and humanitarian crisis.
Speaking at the launch of the Human Development Report (HDR) entitled: ‘Human Development for Everyone’ in Abuja, he called for policy dialogue at all levels to enrich ongoing programmes aimed at implementing the Federal Government’s recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, the SDGs and Africa Union’s agenda 2063 to ensure that human development is realized for everyone and that no one is left behind.
Kallon said the title of the 2016 Report resonates with the central theme of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, whose central theme is ‘leaving no one behind,’ just as ‘universalism’ should be the centre piece of global development.
He restated UNDP’s commitment to supporting the Federal and state governments’ implementation programmes to simultaneously eradicate poverty, significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion in Nigeria.
However, unlike the previous one, this year’s edition was silent on the estimated number of Nigerians classified as poor and “multi-dimensionally poor.”
The 2015 Human Development Report (HDR) estimated that “61.3% of Nigerians are classified as poor with 48.8% of them classified as multi-dimensionally poor,” despite the nation’s robust economic growth recorded between 2010 and 2014.
According to Kallon, the latest report however showed that in the 10 years between 2005 and 2015, Nigeria’s HDI increased from 0.466 to 0.527, which he said represented an encouraging 13.1% rise.
Given “the humanitarian challenges already alluded to, and the economic recession witnessed in 2016,” he continued, “there is an urgent need to design policies and programmes to ensure that the upward trend in human development is not reversed.
“I am glad to note that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) with focus on restoring growth, investing in people and building a globally competitive economy recently launched by the Federal Government outlines several medium-term policies and programmes that can keep Nigeria on a positive development trajectory.”
He stressed that while economic growth is necessary, it is not sufficient a condition for human development, just as achieving high levels of human development is possible even with modest levels of growth.
“What matters is the source and spread of growth; and how growth is managed and distributed for the benefit of everyone,” Kallon added.
The UNDP Rep noted that the fall in global prices of commodities like iron ore, copper, crude oil, gold, cotton and cocoa since late 2014 has meant that natural resource dependent Sub-Sahara African countries were compelled to undertake fiscal re-adjustments with some negative impact on social sector spending and, ultimately, human development.
This significant drop in revenue, he continued, was worsened by the “increasing insecurity and economic downturn that currently face many countries in the region, Nigeria included, may yet pose further problems for the region’s efforts to improve human development. Some countries such as the Central Africa Republic and South Sudan have experienced declines in human development over the past five years primarily due to persistent crises and conflicts; reinforcing the notion that “there can be no development without peace” and “there can be no peace without development”.
“We are all aware of the humanitarian crisis in the North-East of the country and the looming famine in that region. Although efforts by humanitarian development actors, under the leadership of the government have yielded significant results, many challenges remain as an estimated 8.5 million people in that region are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance; over 5 million remain food insecure; and some 50,000 children are at IPC level 5 of food insecurity. The need for action, especially for the children, couldn’t be more urgent,” Kallon added.

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