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From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
With the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) listing Kogi as one of the red-alert states for 2023 floods, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has affirmed its commitment to the flood response in Kogi State by supporting the State Government to put in place a contingency plan to adequately mitigate the risk and impact of any flood that may arise.
UNFPA , a foremost Reproductive Health Agency of the United Nations made this disclosure yesterday by its representative who is the Humanitarian Programme Analyst, Dr. Matthew Onoja
while speaking at the Kogi State Flood Humanitarian Preparedness Plan for 2023 Stakeholders Engagement Meeting which held in Lokoja
Dr. Matthew Onoja, reiterated the commitment of UNFPA in ensuring the actualization of its commitment to achieve 3 zeros by 2030 – zero maternal deaths, unmet need for family planning and gender-based violence and harmful practices.
According to him, data shows that more than 50 per cent of all maternal deaths and up to 70 per cent of gender-based violence incidences occur in humanitarian and fragile settings.
In his words”Humanitarian crises often disrupt the provision and use of sexual and reproductive health information and services and leave women and girls vulnerable to exploitation and abuse thereby becoming a threat to the gains made towards achieving the International Conference on Population and Development’s Programme of Action and the Sustainable Development Goals”
He said UNFPA’s humanitarian action as provided in the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2022-2025 is to mainstream resilience, prevention and preparedness while safeguarding the health and lives of women and adolescents who are most vulnerable.
He commended the Kogi State Government for the initiative to put a flood response plan in place and urged all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government to work in harmony to own the process, avoid duplication of efforts and resources and attract more partner support for impact.
According to Dr Onoja,
In 2018 when the Federal Government declared a flood disaster across four most-affected states by flood (including Kogi), UNFPA was at hand to provide critical life-saving support to the government and people of Kogi state to address the need of women and girls.
He also said that In the aftermath of the 2022 flood that affected nine Local Government Areas of Kogi State, UNFPA embarked on joint missions to Kogi State with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a sister UN agency.
With the technical and financial support of UNFPA, the Special Adviser Humanitarian to the Kogi State Governor, Amina Usman Musa said she convened the Stakeholders Meeting on the State Humanitarian Preparedness to harmonize the State flood response plan and enlist the support of more partners.
She said the State government.is trying all possible means to prepare for a permanent relocation for the people living at the river banks and floods prone areas in the state saying in order to achieve this , the state is seeking the support on two options
“Relocation of communities and flood affected victims to a higher ground for safety. (temporary) and Construction of flood housing estate phase 2 (permanent).
“The building of flood estate phase 2 is a continuation to the already existing phase and the issue of relocation of the flood victims is very paramount that the Kogi State Government through the Bureau of lands provided land for the construction and the relocation of the affected victims.
“These lands are Situated at Karara, Jamata, Wada road bypass, off Ganaja and Area 10 part of the State. These locations were visited during the last stakeholders meeting.” She added
