Today, my office in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs) convened a strategic internal planning meeting to advance Nigeria’s participation in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Capacity Development Initiative (CDI) for Water. The meeting was attended by Dr. Bala Yusuf Yunusa, Senior Technical Advisor, OSSAP-SDGs, and Thembekile Dube-Ncube, Development Coordination Officer (Partnership and Finance), United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office, Nigeria.
This engagement builds on outcomes from my participation at the 2025 International Mayors Forum in Toyota City, Japan, organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), where as a panel discussant joined other expert in critical global conversations around water and sanitation, highlighting persistent gaps in urban water resilience, governance systems, and the integration of technology in water management; challenges that are equally evident across many rapidly expanding cities across the world In response, my office, in collaboration with OSSAP-SDGs, is working to leverage the technical expertise and convening platform of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. We are aligning national priorities with global best practices to accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).
Nigeria has now been formally admitted as a CDI participating country under the auspices of the UN-Water, joining other countries like Costa Rica, The Gambia, Cuba, Panama, Jordan, and Madagascar. This framework mobilizes the expertise and resources of the entire UN system to deliver demand-driven capacity development support to advance SDG 6, with a particular focus on technology and the Water-Energy Nexus. As we continue to deepen partnerships and drive coordinated action, our focus remains clear: to address systemic bottlenecks in water service delivery, strengthen national capacities in water governance, strategic planning, and delivery of sustainable water solutions, promote cross-sectoral coordination, and advance integrated approaches to water and energy management. These are critical enablers for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.