TheCable

Matthias Schmale, United Nations (UN) resident and humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, says it will be a “broken promise” to vulnerable individuals if the sustainable development goals (SDGs) agenda is not achieved by 2030.

Speaking on Monday at the national conference on Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, Schmale said Nigeria needs to take urgent actions as more populations are tackling poverty and unemployment.

NAN reports that the event was organised by the Lagos State University Centre for the actualisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (LASU-SDG) in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC).

“The 2030 agenda will become no more than a broken promise to the world’s most vulnerable people despite these many challenges,” he said.

“Africa remains a continent of hope and Nigeria a country of hope, because the long-term structural endowments of Africa are strong. Africa also is the best investment proposition of the 21st century.”

Schmale said the UN is looking forward to new initiatives introduced by the Nigerian government on achieving SDGs in the next global summit to be held in New York.

“The outcomes from this conference will undoubtedly support collective rescue efforts and lay the groundwork for Nigeria’s preparation for next month’s global SDGs summit in New York,” he added.

“The UN and Nigeria hope that it will be possible for the Nigerian government to announce further initiatives in New York aimed at creating a social impact friendly environment.”

In July 2022, the UN warned that Nigeria was not making progress on plans to achieve SDGs by 2030.

But the federal government, in reaction, said Nigeria was on track to achieve the UN SDGs by 2030.