LAGOS, NIGERIA — The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, has called for sustained international humanitarian financing and stronger strategic partnerships to support vulnerable populations.
Doro said the support had become necessary particularly in countries grappling with rising humanitarian and development challenges amid shrinking global aid resources.
The minister made the call in a statement by the ministry’s Senior Technical Adviser on Information Systems and Data Analysis, Dr Abimbola Fasanu, on Sunday night in Lagos.
Doro had engaged in a series of high-level meetings in Brussels, Belgium, with members of the European Parliament, including Leire Pajín and Hana Jalloul Muro, as well as senior officials of the European Union (EU).
Doro stressed the need for governments and development partners to optimise scarce development resources by replacing fragmented interventions with coordinated, efficient and results-oriented systems capable of delivering lasting benefits to vulnerable populations.
His central message during the engagements was Nigeria’s flagship reform initiative, the One Humanitarian–One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS).
He described the initiative as a transformative national framework integrating humanitarian assistance, social protection and poverty reduction into a unified response mechanism.
According to the minister, the framework is designed to improve coordination among stakeholders, eliminate duplication of efforts, strengthen accountability and create sustainable pathways that improved overall wellbeing of vulnerable people.
“Our objective is to build smarter systems that maximise available resources and deliver lasting impact for vulnerable communities.
“Through stronger coordination and strategic partnerships, we can achieve greater efficiency and better development outcomes,” Doro said.
He also highlighted Nigeria’s growing humanitarian challenges, citing insecurity, internal displacement, food insecurity and climate-related shocks that continue to affect millions of citizens across the country.
Doro noted that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has intensified social protection, humanitarian response and economic empowerment initiatives under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He, therefore, said the scale of humanitarian needs demands stronger collaboration between governments, development partners, humanitarian agencies and the international community.
He advocated greater investment in durable solutions for internally displaced persons (IDPs), including skills acquisition, livelihood support, social inclusion and community resilience programmes to enable displaced persons to rebuild their lives.
The minister also sought deeper cooperation through technical assistance, institutional capacity building, knowledge exchange and strategic partnerships to support the implementation of OHOPRS and strengthen Nigeria’s humanitarian response architecture.
He commended the EU for its continued commitment to humanitarian action.
He expressed optimism that ongoing discussions on future humanitarian financing would strengthen global efforts to protect vulnerable populations, support host communities and build long-term resilience.
Doro reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to working closely with the EU and other development partners to develop more coordinated, evidence-based and sustainable humanitarian systems for effective response to emerging challenges and poverty reduction nationwide.
