The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard M. Doro, has received the Regional Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) for West and Central Africa, Ms Kinday Samba, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to strengthening humanitarian coordination, food security and social protection in Nigeria.
Samba and her delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction in Abuja on Wednesday.
Speaking during the meeting, Doro expressed appreciation for the longstanding partnership between the WFP and the Federal Government, particularly in humanitarian assistance, food security, nutrition and support for vulnerable Nigerians.
The minister said Nigeria was developing the One Humanitarian–One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS) as a framework for improving coordination between humanitarian assistance, social protection and poverty reduction interventions.
According to him, the initiative seeks to move the country away from fragmented and siloed approaches by creating a coordinated system capable of identifying vulnerabilities, linking interventions and establishing sustainable pathways for vulnerable households.
Doro said the government was working to institutionalise OHOPRS as a sustainable national framework that would survive changes in political leadership and administrations.
He disclosed that the ministry was finalising a policy memorandum for consideration by the Federal Executive Council, describing the institutionalisation of the initiative as critical to ensuring continuity and long-term implementation.
The minister said successful implementation of OHOPRS could position Nigeria as a model for coordinated humanitarian and poverty reduction interventions in Africa and beyond.
He, however, identified logistics as one of the challenges affecting humanitarian and nutrition interventions, noting that the availability of food and nutritional commodities did not always guarantee timely delivery to vulnerable communities because of transportation and other logistical difficulties.
Doro also stressed that Nigeria’s transition towards greater national ownership of humanitarian response must be deliberate and structured, saying institutional systems, technical capacity and coordination mechanisms needed to be strengthened to ensure sustainability.
Earlier, the Director of Humanitarian Affairs in the ministry, Mrs Catherina Bulus, thanked the WFP for its continued partnership and support for Nigeria’s humanitarian, food security and nutrition interventions.
Bulus said the visit provided an opportunity for both organisations to strengthen their relationship, exchange views on emerging humanitarian priorities and explore areas of deeper collaboration.
In her remarks, Samba reaffirmed the WFP’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s humanitarian and social protection priorities.
She said food insecurity and poverty were closely interconnected and therefore required integrated interventions rather than programmes developed and implemented in isolation.
The WFP regional director also emphasised the importance of social protection programmes in reaching vulnerable populations who might not otherwise benefit from conventional humanitarian interventions.
She said the WFP was increasingly focused on helping governments strengthen their own systems and institutional capacity rather than creating parallel structures.
Samba cited Pakistan’s Benazir Income Support Programme as an example of a national social protection system that had survived and evolved across successive administrations.
She encouraged Nigeria to study lessons from the Pakistani experience while developing its own institutional framework, stressing that the model should not necessarily be replicated but could provide useful insights.
She offered WFP’s assistance in facilitating a possible learning engagement between Nigerian authorities and relevant institutions in Pakistan.
Samba further pledged WFP’s technical support to Nigeria as the country strengthens its humanitarian coordination and social protection architecture.
She said the organisation’s forthcoming Country Strategic Plan for Nigeria would be developed in close consultation with the Federal Government and aligned with the country’s national priorities.
The meeting ended with both parties reaffirming their commitment to improving humanitarian coordination, food and nutrition security, social protection and sustainable support for vulnerable Nigerians.
