UN partners NGOs to widen SDGs dissemination, understanding

The UN Information Centre, Lagos says it has introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to NGO-Partners to enhance their understanding of the SDGs framework and its place in programming.

A statement issued on Friday by the UN National Information Officer, Oluseyi Soremekun, said the aim was to widely disseminate the 17 SDGs and its associated 169 targets in Nigeria.

Soremekun, in the statement, said the meeting, which was attended by 95 representatives of 75 NGOs, focused on the centre’s priorities for 2016.

He said other focus of the meeting were the SDGs overview, mapping of NGOs based on their mandates and according to the SDGs.

According to him, it was also to align NGO-Partners’ core areas of activities with UN Observances in the year.

He said the Director of the centre, Ronald Kayanja, at the meeting, highlighted SDGs, Climate Change and Counter-terrorism as part of the 2016 priorities of the centre.

The information officer quoted Kayanja as urging the partners to be strategic in programming this year by aligning their activities with the SDGs.

``The global goals must be localised through the collaborative efforts of UN Information Centre, Lagos and its NGO-partners.

``The mapping of the NGOs is aimed at aligning the focus of our NGO-Partners with the goals and targets of the SDGs.”

Soremekun said the Executive Director of Women in Politics and Governance, Ms Obiageli Obi, while acknowledging the technical support of the centre, noted that the meeting was rich in contents and much focused.

He added that the Executive Director, Strategy for Mentoring Initiative and Leadership Empowerment, Mrs Bimpe Bamgbose-Martins, called for more quality engagements between the centre and its NGO-Partners.

The SDGs 17 goals and 169 targets are expected to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years.

SDGs address the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental, as well as important aspects related to peace, justice and effective institutions.

The SDGs, which implementation commenced on Jan. 1, 2016 would run till Dec. 31, 2030.