Odita Sunday 
By Odita Sunday
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has reaffirmed its commitment to leading Nigeria’s humanitarian transition by strengthening disaster management coordination and building a sustainable, nationally driven humanitarian response system.
The commitment was made on Tuesday by the Director General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, at the opening of the Humanitarian Transition Workshop organised by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Abuja.
Mrs. Umar described the workshop as a timely platform for developing a joint action plan that would strengthen a people-centred and nationally led humanitarian system, stressing that the transition aligns with NEMA’s statutory mandate to coordinate disaster management and humanitarian response across the country.
She said the agency would continue to provide strategic leadership through effective coordination, anticipatory action, enhanced preparedness, reliable data, sustainable partnerships and stronger collaboration among all tiers of government.
According to her, the workshop offers stakeholders the opportunity to develop practical strategies for strengthening federal and state institutions, improving coordination mechanisms, enhancing preparedness and ensuring humanitarian interventions remain accountable, inclusive and responsive to the needs of vulnerable populations.
The NEMA Director General assured participants that the agency would continue to work closely with the United Nations, State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs), development partners and other stakeholders to build a coordinated, resilient and nationally owned humanitarian system.
Also speaking, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, acknowledged the evolving global humanitarian landscape, noting that it had made the ongoing humanitarian transition necessary.
He called on state and local governments, the private sector, development partners and Nigerians in the diaspora to regard the transition as a shared responsibility by mobilising resources to support vulnerable communities across the country.
In his remarks, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Dr. Mohamed Malik Fall, assured participants that the humanitarian transition does not signal the withdrawal of the United Nations from Nigeria.
Rather, he explained, the process represents a strategic shift aimed at enabling Nigerian institutions to assume greater leadership in humanitarian interventions while the United Nations continues to provide technical expertise, capacity building and other critical support.
The workshop brought together representatives of federal and state government institutions, United Nations agencies, development partners, civil society organisations and other key stakeholders to deliberate on strategies for strengthening nationally led humanitarian action and ensuring a smooth, coordinated transition towards a sustainable and locally driven humanitarian response in Nigeria.
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