UNPFA tasks Nigerian government on investing in youth empowerment

…..Celebrates 50th anniversary  

By Kemi Yesufu

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has called on the Nigerian government to strictly implement its 2017 roadmap for the attainment of Demographic Dividend in the country.

Demographic Dividend, occurs as benefits that can arise when a country has a relatively large population in the working age bracket and it effectively in invests in their health, empowerment, employment and education, through government and private sector collaboration.

Speaking at a media parley to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of UNFPA, its Acting Country Representative of UNFPA to Nigeria, Dr. Eugene Kongyny , stressed the need for the Nigerian government to express commitment to its plan to trigger Demographic Dividend by spending more on healthcare, education, job creation and youth empowerment.

This is even as he noted that investments targeted at creating wider access to social services and youth empowerment will assist Nigerian to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Speaking on areas of collaboration between the UNFPA and the Nigerian government, many of which he said are in tandem with the SDGs, Kongyny, opined that a lot of progress has been made.

However, he stated that a lot still needs to be done to lessen poverty, create jobs and reduce maternal and child mortality rate in Nigeria and Africa.

“On unfinished agendas, we still have inequality problems. We still have issues of having access to family planning services and ensuring that we have sustainable population growth. When I say sustainable population growth, I mean population growth that can match economic growth.

“Nigeria’s population is growing at the rate of 3.2 percent and the economy is growing at 2 percent. Many people are getting poorer by day. But we don’t want a situation where people are getting poorer by the day because the population is growing at a higher rate than the economy”, he said.

First established as fund to look at population activity in 1967, the fund was transformed into UNFPA by 1969.