Nigeria is set to present its evolving approach to humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction at a high-level side event of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81) in New York.
The event, themed “Beyond Assistance: Reducing Poverty, Advancing Protection and Building Shared Prosperity,” will focus on reimagining humanitarian action, human mobility and social protection as pathways to sustainable development.
It is scheduled for Thursday, September 24, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Conference Room 12, United Nations Headquarters, New York.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, said Nigeria would use the platform to advocate a shift from recurring humanitarian assistance towards systems that protect vulnerable households, strengthen resilience and create sustainable opportunities for economic inclusion.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Dr Abimbola Fasanu, Senior Technical Adviser on Information Systems and Data Analysis to the minister.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction is convening the event in partnership with IOM, UN Migration; Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA); IQS; PVBLIC; and Learning Economic Foundation.
The gathering is expected to bring together governments, United Nations agencies, development partners, private-sector organisations, civil society groups and other stakeholders.
According to Doro, humanitarian assistance remains critical to saving lives during emergencies, but it should also provide a pathway towards recovery and long-term resilience.
“Our message at UNGA 81 is simple: humanitarian assistance must save lives, but it must also become a bridge to recovery, resilience and prosperity,” he said.
He explained that Nigeria’s emerging approach seeks to strengthen the link between humanitarian response, human mobility, social protection, poverty reduction and economic inclusion.
At the centre of the strategy is the One Humanitarian One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS), described as the minister’s flagship reform under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The system adopts a household-centred approach aimed at reducing fragmentation and duplication in interventions, improving the use of data, strengthening coordination among government institutions and development partners, and connecting vulnerable households to appropriate support as they move from vulnerability towards resilience and self-reliance.
“Through OHOPRS, we are changing the question from simply, ‘How many people received assistance?’ to ‘What happened to the household after we intervened?’” Doro said.
He added that the effectiveness of humanitarian interventions should ultimately be assessed by whether affected households recover, become more resilient and progressively move towards self-reliance.
The UNGA side event will also examine the relationship between human mobility and humanitarian and development challenges, including conflict, displacement, migration, climate shocks, poverty and vulnerability.
Discussions are expected to consider ways humanitarian, social protection and development systems can better support displaced persons, vulnerable migrants, returnees and host communities while creating pathways towards durable solutions and economic inclusion.
Nigeria is also expected to advocate stronger international partnerships in areas including sustainable humanitarian and development financing, adaptive social protection, data and digital public infrastructure, institutional capacity, livelihoods and economic inclusion.
Doro said the approach reflects the Federal Government’s commitment, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to strengthening national ownership of humanitarian and poverty reduction interventions while maintaining collaboration with international partners.
“The future of humanitarian action must be about more than managing vulnerability. It must be about building the systems, partnerships and opportunities that enable people to overcome it,” he said.
The minister said Nigeria’s ambition was to move “from palliatives to pathways, from vulnerability to resilience, and ultimately to shared prosperity.”
Against the backdrop of growing global humanitarian pressures, including conflict, displacement, food insecurity, climate shocks and economic vulnerability, Nigeria is expected to use the UNGA platform to promote an approach that connects immediate humanitarian assistance with long-term protection, recovery and economic opportunity.
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