The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr Tayo Aduloju, says with targeted approaches, Nigeria can still meet some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators.
Aduloju said this on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Abuja, at a news conference to announce the Policy Innovation Center’s (PIC) annual Gender and Inclusion Summit.
According to him, though Nigeria is not on course to meet the SDGs target set for 2030, there are few indicators it can reach because as there are 17 SDGs with 169 targets and indicators.
“I would say right now we are not on course to reach anyone, but we can still achieve some milestone going forward.
“For example, we can turn around birth registration in 12 months; there are a few other indicators that I think Nigeria can reach.
“We have recommended a mother and child compact between the Federal Government and the Minister of Health and Social Welfare seems willing to push it.
“This is because we think that if we met those ones, some of the SDGs will be met automatically,” he added.
According to Aduloju, there is a parallel relationship between multi-dimensional poverty and gender inequality, with countries performing poorly on the Global Gender Report also exhibiting high severe multi-dimensional poverty.
He said that multi-dimensional poverty encompasses deprivations in health, education and living standards.
“The World Bank points out significant gender disparities in labour participation in Nigeria, with about 65.5 per cent of men participating compared to around 52.1 per cent of women.
“The National Bureau of Statistics indicates that about two-thirds of Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor, lacking income and basic amenities like healthcare, education, and clean cooking fuels,” he said.
He added that conflict, climate change, inflation, and increasing food prices were among the pathways contributing to the rise in high food insecurity and malnutrition rates.
He, however, said that the solution remains a collective effort by all stakeholders to tackle the issues as it could no longer be achieved by government alone.
On her part, the Executive Director, PIC, Mrs Osasuyi Dirisu, said that Nigeria was facing unprecedented times owing to a weak and non-inclusive economy, volatile macro-economic environment, security challenges and weak economic competitiveness.
She, however, said that addressing poverty in Nigeria could not be business as usual.
“Ending poverty and reducing inequality are part of the SDGs and a wide range of approaches have been identified to reduce poverty and inequities.
“To design effective poverty reduction programs, it is important to understand pathways to poverty, evidence-based approaches that work and linkages to multi-sectorial inequities.
“We need to identify what works for poverty reduction in Nigeria and sustain the commitment to poverty reduction by intentionally designing and implementing contextually relevant solutions driven by a policy enabling environment,” Dirisu said.
Speaking about the summit, she said that it would hold from Sept. 4 to Sept. 5 with “Reimagining Gender-Inclusive Pathways and Partnerships for Poverty Reduction” as theme.
She said that the summit was expected to explore the impacts of multi-dimensional deprivations on health, education, livelihood, and living standards.
Conceptualised in 2022, the summit is an annual event to provide an inclusive platform to explore transformative ways to advance gender equity, inclusion and gender-responsive governance in Africa.
The 2024 summit is expected to leverage the collective power of government, development partners, civil society, academia, and the private sector, highlighting the importance of strategic partnerships for inclusive development.
The PIC, an initiative of NESG is an institutionalised behavioural initiative in Africa supporting the delivery of better policies and innovative solutions for social impact.
By Folasade Akpan
