The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has pledged more support for the development of Gombe state in the area of strategic development, health, education, water, sanitation and other relevant areas.
This was the outcome of the separate meeting of the Governor of the state, Muhammadu Yahaya with officials of UNDP and UNICEF at the United Nations Headquarters New York on Wednesday.
According to a statement made available to IMPACT NEWS by the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Publicity, Ismaila Uba Misillity, the Assistant Secretary General of UNDP, and the Regional Director for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie and her team.
Yahaya explained to his host some of the measures taken by his administration to tackle some of the inherited challenges, including commissioning a needs assessment of critical areas across over 400 communities in the state.
He sought for partnership and support in the production of a Development Plan for the state as well as in designing a sustainability framework for the Gombe Goes Green (3G) programme.
The Governor also made a case with the UNDP for the scaling up of interventions in livelihoods and capacity building under the ‘Fostering Sustainability and Resilience for Food Security in the Savanna Zones of Northern Nigeria’.
In her remarks, Eziakonwa-Onochie commended the governor’s vision for his state and expressed readiness to help in translating his foresight into a development plan.
She also expressed willingness of UNDP to provide linkage to donors and partners supporting climate change action and unlock financial resources available within the UN system and beyound to support the 3G project.
Eziakonwa-Onochie also declared commitment of the UNDP to partner with Gombe State in developing a flagship document – human development report for tracking improvements in human development index.
UNDP also offered to extend its activities in the state on the prevention of violent extremism and investment in youths.
Similarly, Governor Inuwa Yahaya also held discussions with officials of United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF where the agency expressed willingness to increase its support to the state in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as well as provide linkage with global partners that can support Gombe in education, health and nutrition.
