Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday expressed optimism that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would help reduce poverty and unemployment in the country.
He stated this during the inauguration of the Presidential Council on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Abuja.
He said, “Progress on the goal will have a positive effect on poverty and unemployment numbers. It will reduce the number of mothers who die during childbirth and our children who are unable to mark their fifth birthdays and of course on figures of out of school children. It will empower our girls and women and bridge the gender inequality gap.
“Success with the implementation of the SDGs will have impact on our cities and on the quality of lives of those who live within them.
“It is therefore clear that the achievements of the goals equal a quantum social economic leap for Nigeria. Failure to achieve the SDGs will have exponential implication on our generation and for those yet unborn.”
According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari will join other heads of states and governments to adopt the sustainable development goals, towards ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring peace and prosperity.
“Audaciously ambitious as the goals maybe appear, they capture the urgency and rage of the major challenges that confronts humanity especially developing nations. They underscore the reality that only global partnership supporting home grown and inclusive solutions stand a chance of achieving the goals. Building on the MDGs, the SDGs open new priorities such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice,” he said.
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