Nigeria’s private sector players rally UNFPA at 50 & ICPD at 25

This was the submission of Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, Head of Sustainability at Access Bank Plc at the one-day summit orgainsed by the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of UN body on Tuesday, June 18.

In her opening remark, Victor-Lanyan explained that the private sector has a huge contribution to make to the implementation of the SDGs through commitment to seeking shared value and environmentally sustainable ways of operating.

Reacting to the submit theme: “Sustainable Population Growth, Demographic Dividend and the Future of Nigeria: The Role of the Private Sector, she said achieving the SDGs as it relates to better health facilities for pregnant women and youth development will be near impossible without the active involvement of the private sector.

Delivering a keynote address at the summit, Country Representative of the UNFPA, Eugene Kongnyuy said if Nigeria is to achieve the SDGs, especially the health SDGs the private sector must play a key role in collaboration with government and development partners, to address the challenges of inadequate health infrastructure, inadequate Equipment, inadequate Human Resources for Health, weak supply chain Management for Medicines and many other factors.

He said while Governments have the primary responsibility to foster an environment for peace, justice and sustainable development through enabling policies and implementation of enabling laws, business and philanthropy also have a critical role to play.

According to him, no country or institution can solve challenges on its own with collaborating with another. “We must harness the power of the private sector and civil society for shared solutions to complex challenges. We need to build an inclusive global partnership, with mutual accountability and a fair sharing of responsibilities. We must leverage our comparative strengths, capacities and resources to achieve meaningful results.” He added.

In an 13-point communique issued at the end of the summit attended by representatives from Oando Foundation, Coca-Cola Plc, Microsoft, Tolarams Group, West African Gas Pipelines Company, Merck, Pharm Access Foundation, DKT, HACEY Health Initiative, Lagos Business School, Access Bank Plc, Chevron, Nigerian Breweries, and UNICEF, Ondo state government and several civil society bodies resolved to proactively engage NGOs and CSOs, particularly those focused on women, youth and poverty eradication, to form a partnership on reaching out tt underserved areas.

Participants unanimously agreed that in carrying out corporate social responsibilities, ensure partnering with civic society organisations and participatory needs assessment of target groups to provide sync between the company’s activities and achievement of the sustainable development goals.

They also resolved to recognize the potentials of young people and harness this strength towards sustainable development through mentoring and more internship opportunities.

Other call to actions point included the use of goodwill with government parastatals and political contacts to ensure there are reviews, amendment and implementation of laws that pertain to women, youth, population and poverty eradication to ensure attaining the SDGs.

The panelists also speak on partnership with local health authorities to support scaling-up primary health care centres in residential vicinity to ensure more women access to care during and after pregnancy.

Importantly, the panelists promised to go back to their various organisations with the mindset of given consideration to employing women in workplaces and giving them equal opportunity to rise the corporate cadres and support their maternal needs during and after pregnancy.