Abuja, 13 September, 2018 - The Governor of Bauchi State, His Excellency, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar in Abuja today pledged the timely release of counterpart funding for the implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (UNSDPF) 2018-2022 Work plan. 

Planned activities for the year 2018 has an estimated budget of NGN 4.4 billion out of which, the UN System will be contributing about NGN 3.6 billion of the funds and Bauchi State, the remaining NGN 813.3 million.  The Joint Annual Work Plan (JAWP) will be implemented by state partners and four participating UN Agencies, UNICEF, UNFPA, IOM with WHO as the coordinating agency .

“A healthy society is an economically viable one. Our government is quite appreciative of the proposed output  as enshrined in the Annual Work Plan and has put in place, necessary and sufficient conditions for the attainment of the overarching goal of this noble plan”, Governor Abubakar said.

Among other parameters contained in the plan, the governor stressed, “It is our strong conviction that routine immunization, available essential drugs and supplies, nutrition and counselling in HIV/AIDS services will greatly improve the health status of the people of Bauchi, which has a positive effect on our economic fortunes”.

The Governor, UN Resident Coordinator (RC), Mr Edward Kallon and WHO Country Representative (WR) Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu performed the formal signing ceremony at the Bauchi Liaison Office in Abuja. Activities in the work plan are structured within three strategic areas: Governance, Human Rights, Peace and Security; Equitable Quality Basic Services, as well as Sustainable, Inclusive Economic Growth and Development.

Earlier in his speech, the RC commended the governor for the efforts he has been making to improve the lives and well-being of the people of Bauchi. He noted that Bauchi state has maintained a successful partnership with UN agencies over time. “It is in recognition of these efforts that the UN, after a multi-dimensional gap analysis alongside with other criteria, selected Bauchi along with four other states (Lagos, Federal Capital Territory, Cross-river, Sokoto) to benefit from development support proposed in UNSDPF (2018-2022) through the Delivering as One(DaO) framework”, Mr Kallon said.
 

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