The Federal Government has concluded the maiden meeting of the National Council on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, bringing together policymakers and frontline actors to reset Nigeria’s humanitarian and social protection response.
The meeting represents the first coordinated effort to align federal, state, and local interventions under a single national framework aimed at reducing poverty, strengthening social protection, and ensuring that humanitarian assistance delivers long-term economic stability.
Beyond policy conversations, the discussions reflected the lived realities of millions of Nigerians for whom poverty is a daily struggle marked by hunger, displacement, flooding, erosion, and the loss of livelihoods to conflict and climate-related disasters.
Held under the theme “Beyond the National: Strengthening Subnationals and Multi-Stakeholder Synergy for a Unified Approach to Humanitarian Response and Poverty Reduction,” the council focused on bridging gaps between emergency relief and sustainable development.
Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, said the Federal Government is transitioning from fragmented interventions to a coordinated national approach designed to ensure timely, efficient, and sustainable support for vulnerable populations across the country.
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He emphasized that while social protection programmes have provided relief to millions of households, stronger coordination, shared data systems, and deeper involvement of states and local governments are critical to achieving lasting impact.
Hosting the meeting, Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, represented by his deputy, Peter Odey, highlighted the state’s humanitarian challenges, including internally displaced persons, refugees, recurrent flooding, erosion, and livelihood pressures in rural communities, calling for sustained federal and international collaboration.
As Nigeria grapples with rising humanitarian needs alongside entrenched poverty, the National Council on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction is expected to translate coordination into measurable impact, shifting government support from short-term relief to durable solutions that improve lives and livelihoods nationwide.
(Editor: Ada Ononye)
