The federal government has launched a Revised National Population Policy Strategic Plan (SP).
The Chairman National Population Commission Nasir Isa Kwarra, said the Strategic Plan of Action is a well-organized document that link all the sectors and other population and development issues to the National Population Policy.
“These sectors include Health Concerns; Adolescents and Young People; Education; Communication; Population Dynamics; Population Groups with Special Needs; Environment; Gender; Population and Development Planning; Population Statistics; ICPD25 Nairobi Summit Commitments; Sustainable Development and Population Goals, among others.
“The Action Plan is a variant of a logical framework designed to facilitate implementation, track financing of activities, mapping of progress and is reader-friendly.” He stated.
He further said that the implementation of the Strategic Plan will require elaborate, consistent, sustained and well-coordinated stakeholders’ involvement and engagements at all levels including effective collaboration and partnerships.
“I acknowledge with gratitude the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-Health Policy Plus (HP+) support for the development of the Strategic Plan and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for funding the production of the document.
Also speaking, the Population Advisory Group (PAG), Spokesperson, Ambassador Usman Sarki, said the launch of the Revised National Population Policy Implementation Strategic Plan (SIP) signals a landmark achievement in the work of the Commission.
“The Revised National Population Policy and the Strategic Implementation Plan are the guidelines towards the effective population management and conduct of the census in the country. Plans and strategies around human capital development, effective implementation of social and economic policies and the extension of services like education, healthcare and housing to Nigerians, will be contingent on the successful realisation of the objectives of the Revised National Population Policy and the Strategic Implementation Plan.
“The role of the PAG therefore; will be to provide expert advice towards leveraging the services and facilities that are available in various funds, programmes and agencies of multilateral bodies like the United Nations, and international finance institutions like the World Bank, the African Development Bank, etc.
Reporting by Joshua Adams, editing by Daniel Adejo