Abuja – The United Nations has opened an office in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, in a move officials said is aimed at reducing poverty and improving quality of life of locals through better coordination.
The office is expected to coordinate its activities of the organisation in the South-South and South-East parts of the country.
“Obviously, having all UN agencies in one premise is bound to reduce transactional cost for the host state, partners, and UN through common service and improve business efficiency practices. The common premise therefore gives true and practical meaning to the UN Reform as partners and Government is able to access an array of quality expertise advice from the UN agencies, funds and programmes at one location,” said UN Nigeria Resident Co-coordinator, Dauda Toure, said.
He said the building, which will be known as UN House, would enable the UN achieve much greater impact especially at country level.
“By working together, the UN system can provide advice and assistance in a wide range of issues and also ensure that the support provided by each agency is complementary rather than duplicative,” the official added.
He assured the state government that the provision of the office accommodation to the UN family will bring more UN agencies while emphasizing the need for the state government to continually support the projects and programmes of the UN agencies.
Toure said the choice of Calabar was informed by the quality of leadership in the Cross River state.
In his remarks, the State Governor, Liyel Imoke, said the presence of the UN would strengthen the partnership between the state and the world body.
“It will be a major resources centre for the people of Cross River which we will take advantage of. The presence of UN officials in Calabar means a lot for the administration and people of Cross River State,” he added.
“The building is for the benefit of Cross River and humanity and to the glory of Almighty God.
