Adejoke Orelope- Adefulire,

– Ready For Submission To The UN

In preparation for the 2020 United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) Meeting on Sustainable Development in New York, stakeholders in Nigeria have unanimously validated the Final Draft Report of the 2nd Voluntary National Review (VNR) on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.

The exercise was carried out during the Virtual National Validation Workshop on Nigeria’s 2020 VNR Report, which had about 141 participants in attendance. The participants cut across representatives from key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government, United Nations System, Organized Private Sector, Civil Society Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations. Notable among the participants were the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire as host.

The validated Report, which will be presented at the HLPF scheduled to hold between July 13th and 17th, 2020 is a product of extensive research and wide consultations.

“To ensure an evidence-based and policy-useful Report is produced, Nigeria’s 2020 VNR focused on seven priority reporting SDGs: 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 16 and 17. This prioritization was based on our national development priorities as embedded in the Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020 and the three cardinal objectives of President Buhari’s administration – economy, security and fight against corruption. Thus, the Report before you was carefully framed to establish these conceptual links,” Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire stated.
The Report also aggregated useful knowledge and shared experiences generated from the broad-based participations at regional and national consultative workshops hosted virtually across key segments of the society grouped according to their levels of specialisations/interests. The groups include Civil Society Organizations and the Scientific Community; People with Disabilities (PWDs); the Organized Private Sector and the Donors/Development Partners. Youths, women and older persons were also embedded in the virtual workshops.

In his keynote address, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba restated the commitment of government to efforts to attain the SDGs.
“Interestingly, this review coincides with Nigeria’s Plan to develop a successor Development Plan to the ERGP. I am happy to state that plans have reached advanced stage in the preparation of the country’s future plan. Specifically, with the domestication and customization of the Integrated Sustainable Development Goals (iSDG) Model late last year and its deployment to the Macroeconomic Analysis Department of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, we are committed to using this Model in the development of the next National Development Plan.”
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon, in his remarks congratulated Nigeria on the commitment to produce the report in face of numerous challenges. He, however, noted that the government and people of Nigeria must not rest on their oars in the quest to deliver on the goals ahead of the 2030 target date.