Nigeria will host the 12th Plenary of the group of 63 member countries of innovative financing for development on Thursday, Jan. 17 in Abuja.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by the commission’s Head of Information Unit, National Planning Commission, Salisu Haiba.
Haiba said the presidency of the leading group resided in the commission, which has the Minister as a coordinating/presiding chairman of the Group for the tenure regime which ended in December 2013.
He recalled that through the commission, Nigeria was elected presidency of the leading group at the end of the 11th plenary held in Helsinki, Finland Republic on Feb. 6, 2013, adding that the country spent 10 months on the post.
Haiba said the 12th plenary to be hosted by Nigeria, was in line with the tradition of the group, that the holder of the Presidency should host the plenary to signify the end of its tenure.
He quoted the Supervising Minister of NPC, Bashir Yuguda, as explaining that the aim of the group was to raise funds to fill the widening gap between the financial mobilisation toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Yuguda said the group also aimed to establish predictable and stable mechanisms for raising funds for development to complement official development assistance
He said the group sought to promote the implementation and definition of innovative financing mechanisms around the world.
He recalled that the group was founded in 2006 as a platform with 63 member countries at differing levels of development alongside international organisations and No- Governmental Organisations.
Explaining Nigerian presidency’s achievements, Yuguda said the Federal Government had been promoting globally the instrumentality of innovative financing for development in line with the transformation agenda and the Nigeria Vision 20:2020.
He said that Nigeria undertook to pursue refocusing of the group to strongly influence the post 2015 MDGs activities of the UN and other regional or economic blocs.
“It was also along this line, the group organised two high level side events on innovative financing at TICAD V in Japan in June 2013, as well as at the 68th UN General Assembly in New York in September last year.
“Other activities recorded under Nigeria’s Presidency, according to him, include the production of a draft resolution on innovative financing which was presented to the 68th UN General Assembly,’’ the minister said.
According to him, although the resolution is yet to be adopted as presented, the subsequent adoption of a resolution on financing for development by the UN, mentioning innovative financing is therefore a concrete outcome of Nigeria’s presidency.
He enumerated some of the Nigeria’s innovative financing mechanisms adopted to include; the air ticket tax and effective management of aid under a newly reviewed Official Development Assistance (ODA) policy.
According to him, these are in line with Government’s Transformation Agenda and the Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020.