‘More youth involvement in SDGs mobilisation needed’

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SSAP-SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the United Nations, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and his counterpart in the Ministry of Youths and Sports, Sunday Dare have called for enhanced involvement of the youths in SDGs mobilisation in Nigeria.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SSAP-SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the United Nations, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and his counterpart in the Ministry of Youths and Sports, Sunday Dare have called for enhanced involvement of the youths in SDGs mobilisation in Nigeria.

The call was echoed by the Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Mohammed Fadah, who was elated about the result of youths’ involvement in SDGs and related developmental initiatives in the country.

They spoke in Abuja at the second edition of the three-day “Training of Trainers (TOT) for SDGs Development Knowledge Facilitators” organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs) in collaboration with the NYSC.

Fadah, represented by the Director, Special Project and Community Development Services, Abdulrazak Salawu, noted that youths’ involvement in SDGs mobilisation has improved since the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SGDs and the NYSC opened collaboration in 2017 under the project named: “NYSC-SDGs Champions.”

Fadah added that with support from the OSSAP-SGDs his agency “embarked on the War Against Poverty (WAP) programme where almost four thousand (4000) Corps members have been trained in various entrepreneurial skills and empowered.”

Orelope-Adefulire expressed delight ay the positive impact of her office’s collaboration with the NYSC, which, she said, has resulted in the involvement of more youths in deepening the actualisation of SDGs across the country.

She stressed the need for the need to “encourage and engage our NYSC members, “who are from diverse backgrounds, to be at the forefront of implementing the SDGs in Nigeria.

“This can easily be done by providing a platform for more digital and entrepreneurial skills, as well as leadership opportunities, to enable them to thrive locally and guarantee decent and sustainable work for inclusive growth and development.

“We will continue to play our central role in the integration of the SDGs into the Sectoral Policies and Plans of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs),” Orelope-Adefulire said.

Dolapo Enejo of the United Nations Global Compact Network (UNGCN) in Nigeria, noted that the “active engagement of youth in sustainable development efforts is central to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies by the target date.”

Enejo, who represented the Chair of the UNGCN in Nigeria, Mrs. Soromidayo George, added that youths’ involvement would help avert “the worst threats and challenges to sustainable development, including the impacts of climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and migration.”

Represented by John Achike, Ngige hailed those behind the initiative and assured of his ministry’s support for efforts to encourage skill acquisition among the youths.

Dare, who was represented by Hamid Nagogo, spoke in a similar vein and commended the collaboration between the OSSAP-SDGs and the NYSC.

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