The Federal Government of Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China have expressed interest to collaborate on humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction.
This is contained in a statement by Iliya Isyaku, Director, Information and Public Relation, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction in Abuja on Thursday.
Isyaku said the two countries expressed their intentions when the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Yusuf Sununu in Abuja on Thursday.
The minister while discussing potential areas of collaborations on poverty reduction and humanitarian affairs between Nigeria and China, acknowledged the good intentions of the Chinese government in partnering with the ministry.
He also expressed Nigeria’s eagerness to learn from China’s experiences, highlighting the humanitarian challenges in Nigeria which include acute malnutrition in children, internally displaced persons, refugees, climate change, among others.
He further noted areas of possible collaboration to include Durable Solutions, Partnering in Skill to Wealth Training Programmes, capacity building for ministry’s staff, particularly frontline workers, on poverty reduction and prompt response in humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations.
Responding, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, said both countries shared a lot in common in terms of population, saying China had about 1.4 billion people as of last year.
Dunhai disclosed that China had suffered issues of hunger in times past, adding that the country had achieved much in addressing the challenges.
The ambassador highlighted China’s experience in lifting millions of people out of poverty in the last decade and expressed his country’s willingness to share expertise with Nigeria.
He noted that addressing poverty required comprehensive investment on food security, agriculture, industrialisation, education, security and developmental stability.
According to him, the Chinese Embassy is ready to partner the ministry to achieve common goals.
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Yakubu Kofarmata, thanked the Ambassador for the visit and his country’s interest to partner with the ministry in the area of humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction as well as capacity training for Staff.
