Humanitarian minister Sadiya Farouq says Nigeria is moving from giving humanitarian relief to vulnerable Nigerians to empowering them.

Ms Farouq disclosed in New York at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly that President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime was working to build the population’s resilience.

“We are shifting away from just giving humanitarian relief to see how we can build the resilience of our people and empower them,” noted the humanitarian minister. “We are moving towards a sustainable way of building the lives of vulnerable people, those who have been affected by displacement, to have a dignified way of life by empowering them.”

She added, “We have provided for them different empowerment opportunities for them to learn different skills, to earn a living with those skills and for their prosperity.”

According to her, empowering the vulnerable population is the right step to reducing poverty, noting that Nigeria has done well under the present administration to reduce the poverty index.

The minister explained that the UN had been working with Nigeria to achieve sustainable development, like eradicating poverty and addressing vulnerability issues.

Earlier at the event, UN deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed said humanitarian action and life-saving relief remained critical. 

“We must recognise that protracted crises require a synchronised and complementary development and peace support,” she stated.

(NAN)