SDGs: UN Deputy Sec.-Gen Urges Sustained, Coordinated Efforts Toward COVID-19 Recovery

Ismail Abdulaziz
Feb, Wed, 2021

General News

SDGs: UN Deputy Sec.-Gen urges sustained, coordinated efforts toward COVID-19 recovery

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By Lizzy Okoji
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has called for sustained and more coordinated efforts aimed at increasing the chances of recovery from the Coronavirus (COVID-19), saying that doing so will ease the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mohammed made the call during a visit to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama in Abuja.

She said the UN would support Nigeria and other developing countries to succeed in the fight against the pandemic.

“What happened last year was a huge challenge for the world when we were visited by COVID-19.

“It is not over yet, we are still trying to respond, to recover but also to touch on the issues with a view (to focusing) on how to achieve the SDGs in the decade that is left, and the urgency and the scale with which we have to do that in every country in spite of the challenges of COVID-19.”

“As we look back, last year was a struggle. A tiny virus put a halt to most activities around the world and while it is a health crisis, it ended up being a socio-economic crisis as well.

“Governments and economies felt the impact of COVID-19 as countries locked down. We survived and I think we did well as a globe, as a community.

“In many ways, I have to say that Africa’s response to COVID-19, Nigeria’s response to COVID-19, has been one that has been commended around the world and the UN has been happy to support the efforts particularly here in Nigeria,” Mohammed said.

According to her, although 2021 is not likely to be different from 2020, there is hope that recovery will be stronger and different as many of the things the world experienced last year due to COVID-19, have actually created opportunities.

The UN deputy secretary-general said the real task before the world this year “is to ensure that many developing countries that have not had the opportunities to support the stimulus packages can do so to achieve the SDGs.’’

Speaking on the $14 billion commitment made on the Great Green Wall initiative by some UN partners, Mohammed said the opportunity of the Great Green Wall, “is not just a question of planting trees to stop the desert and creating an economic corridor that will reclaim the deserts’’ but also about providing jobs and enhancing sustainable energy.

Mohammed said the root causes of insurgency in the West African sub-region should be tackled, adding that the UN has been working with Nigeria, the ECOWAS and with the whole region to address the problem.

She, however, called for more investment in the education of the region’s youths.

“The Great Green Wall has received a commitment of over $14 billion and I think what we have to do at the UN is to convene the partners to make sure that we can move from the words on paper to the projects.

“This year is a year about nature, there is conference of the parties for the climate and for biodiversity.

“There are meetings on food system summit, meetings on transportation and sustainability. So many issues around for a better and more sustainable world to achieve the SDGs and we look forward to working with Nigeria to make that happen.

“We have to invest in their education, their services and strengthen local governments, we will be partnering with government to make sure that happens.

“We will partner with the security agencies not just in Nigeria but across the region,” Mohammed said.

Speaking earlier, Onyeama said the involvement of Mohamamed in the global body “is an opportunity for Nigeria to recalibrate its engagement with the UN and know how and what should be done to push its priorities forward.’’

Onyeama said Mohammed had transformed the way the UN engaged with developing countries.

The minister said President Muhammadu Buhari “is keen on Nigeria attaining the SDGs.’’

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