The United Nations in Nigeria and the European Union have agreed to strengthen their partnership to support Nigeria’s development priorities and deliver lasting impact for the country.

Mohammed Fall, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, and the head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, disclosed this at a strategic partnership meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

Both leaders spoke during the EU-UN strategic dialogue on strengthening cooperation and advancing collective impact across Nigeria. The event also focused on advancing collective impact under UN Reform, cooperation between the EU, its member states and key EU-UN partnerships.

“There is already a global partnership between the UN and the EU, one of the biggest supporters of the UN beyond financial support, which in Nigeria translates into projects valued at $400 million.

“There are a lot of issues and questions around multilateralism, international solidarity, but the UN and the EU stand together to support solidarity between countries, multilateralism, development, and humanitarian assistance,” Mr Fall said.

According to him, this is why both parties value the partnership and, from time to time, renew their commitment to it, revisit areas needing improvement, and tackle perceived challenges within the framework of the partnership.

“We need to work together and have the Nigerian government increase its engagement and mobilisation of domestic resources to tackle the development gaps, as well as humanitarian assistance needs in the country,” he said.

Mr Mignot identified the EU’s partnership with the UN as a priority in areas such as education, governance, democracy, human rights and security.

According to him, the EU’s partnership with the UN is second to none, as the dialogue seeks to improve project delivery on the ground, to benefit Nigerian citizens.

“We have ‌reviewed our portfolio of projects, some 32 projects. EU-funded projects took up a lot of money, working with 16 UN agencies. So, we combine all financial contributions or grants from the EU and the technical expertise, and political expertise of the UN on the field,” Mr Mignot said.

He described the partnership as triangular as it also includes the Nigerian government at both the federal and state levels. 

(NAN)