The Federal Government and UNICEF has held a One-day Workshop in Abuja, to review the draft 2025-2027 Social Policy Work plan and refine the strategies with other key Stakeholders to ensure that they align with national priorities.

The Workshop is also aimed at strengthening and streamlining collaboration between UNICEF, Federal and State Governments to ensure effective cross-sectoral coordination in social policy.

Declaring the Workshop open, the Permanent Secretary of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Emeka Vitalis Obi mni, stressed that the work plan would explore and refine strategies to enhance performance, program – based budgeting, child- sensitive Monitoring and Evaluation and maximize government resources to improve outcomes for children, both at the National and subnational levels of government.

The Permanent Secretary urged participants to thoroughly examine the work plan and point out areas that would need further clarification.

According to him, “Doing this will help us strengthen our approach and effectively achieve the objectives of this review workshop”

Welcoming participants earlier, the Director of Social Development in the Ministry, Dr. Sanjo Faniran, said the meeting was critical in evaluating the implementation of the 2023-2024 work plan, identifying key achievements, addressing challenges and drawing valuable lessons that would inform the development of the 2025-2027 work plan.

He added that the Workshop was also to strengthen multi-sectoral synergies, improve service delivery and ensure that social policy interventions were impactful, sustainable and aligned with National priorities.

He therefore charged participants to work as a unified team with a shared commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s social policy framework, by ensuring that the strategies and programs align with the Federal Government ‘s development priorities.

This, he said, would enhance service delivery and drive meaningful change in the lives of children and vulnerable population across the country.

Faniran maintained that the longstanding collaboration between the Federal Government and UNICEF had significantly contributed to improving the lives of women and children across the country.
He further mentioned that the partnership had continued to drive progress in education, healthcare, child protection and social inclusion, ensuring that every child had the opportunity to thrive in a safe and nutritious environment.

Also speaking, the Chief, Social Policy Section, UNICEF, Dr. Hamidou Poufon, stressed the need for Ministries, Departments and Agencies to pay adequate attention to Child poverty, Social Protection, Public Financial Management and Local Governance; in order to come up with key interventions to check social development barriers.

Julie Osagie- Jacobs
D/Information and PR
FMBEP
13/02/25.