By Juliet Umeh

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, has called for sustained international humanitarian financing and deeper strategic collaboration between Nigeria and the European Union to address the country’s growing humanitarian and poverty challenges.

Doro made the appeal during separate high-level meetings with Members of the European Parliament, Leire Pajín and Hana Jalloul Muro, as well as senior European Union officials in Brussels, Belgium.

A statement issued on his behalf by his Senior Technical Adviser on Information Systems and Data Analysis, Dr. Abimbola Fasanu, said the engagements focused on the future of humanitarian response, social protection and poverty reduction amid declining global aid resources.

Speaking during the meetings, the minister stressed the need for governments and development partners to maximise limited resources by moving away from fragmented interventions to coordinated, efficient and results-oriented systems.

He presented Nigeria’s One Humanitarian–One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS) as the Federal Government’s flagship reform designed to integrate humanitarian assistance, social protection and poverty reduction into a unified national response.

According to him, the framework is expected to improve coordination, eliminate duplication, strengthen accountability and create sustainable pathways from vulnerability to resilience and prosperity.

“Our objective is to build smarter systems that maximise available resources and deliver lasting impact for vulnerable communities. Through stronger coordination and strategic partnerships, we can achieve greater efficiency and better development outcomes,” Doro said.

The minister also highlighted Nigeria’s humanitarian situation, citing insecurity, internal displacement, food insecurity and climate-related shocks as major factors worsening the conditions of millions of vulnerable citizens.

He noted that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had continued to strengthen social protection, humanitarian response and economic empowerment programmes under the Renewed Hope Agenda, but stressed that the scale of the country’s humanitarian needs required stronger international collaboration.

According to him, effective humanitarian response can only be achieved through sustained partnerships involving national governments, development agencies, humanitarian organisations and the wider international community.

Doro further advocated increased investment in durable solutions for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, including skills acquisition, livelihood support, social inclusion and community resilience programmes capable of helping displaced persons rebuild their lives with dignity.

He also called for enhanced technical assistance, institutional capacity building, knowledge sharing and strategic partnerships to support the implementation of OHOPRS and strengthen Nigeria’s humanitarian architecture.

The minister welcomed the European Union’s continued commitment to humanitarian interventions and expressed optimism that ongoing discussions on future humanitarian financing would strengthen global efforts to protect vulnerable populations, support host communities and build long-term resilience.

He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to working closely with the European Union and other development partners to develop coordinated, evidence-based and sustainable humanitarian systems capable of responding effectively to emerging challenges while accelerating poverty reduction across the country.