By Marie-Therese Nanlong

An appeal has been made to citizens of Plateau State to guard jealously, projects executed by the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs in their communities so that the aim of siting such projects could be achieved. 

Plateau State Project Coordinator, Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs), Mr. Samuel Damla made the appeal in Jos during a day sensitization workshop on SDGs organized for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the State.

The workshop, sponsored by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur International Zusammenarbeit, (GIZ) was aimed at creating awareness on SDGs and what the MDAs can do to achieve the diverse goals.

Damla, who was represented by Moses Azi, Head of Information and Communication Unit of SDGs in the State noted that the goals of SDGs are to support communities especially the rural areas across the country in providing social amenities in health, education and recreational sectors, as well as eradicating poverty in the country.

He stated that “the sensitization workshop started November 4, 2021 covering the entire 17 Local Government Councils of the state. Chairmen of the Councils were advised to work on having a local development plan, to guide them in achieving the development goals in their localities because such pragmatic steps would attract development partners to their areas.

“SDGs also seeks to eradicate hunger, food insecurity, malnutrition as well as providing healthy living and general wellbeing for all through the provision of equitable and quality education. SDGs is the direction that the global community have taken in order to see that the third world countries overcome their challenges in terms of development.”

He further urged the participants to ensure that they spread the good news of SDGs in their various Ministries, Departments, Agencies and also their communities, since “SDGs goals are about people, prosperity, peace, partnership and planet.”

The Coordinator commended Plateau state government for keying into the programme by paying its counterpart funds to access projects that have direct bearing on the lives of the people in the rural communities.