By NAN
The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) has called for deeper collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to enhance understanding and deliver on its mandate.
The NCFRMI Federal Commissioner, Hajiya Imaan Ibrahim, made the appeal at the first retreat between the commission and UNHCR in Abuja on Thursday.
According to her, NCFRMI has been enjoying robust partnership and collaboration with UNHCR on strengthening its capacity to provide enhanced services to refugees, Internally Displaced Persons and stateless persons.
“Through the years of this collaboration, there is recognition of certain capacity gaps that have been jointly addressed to enable NCFRMI to improve delivery around its mandate.
“One key component of the overall capacity development support is the two-day retreat targeting NCFRMI management at the headquarters and in zonal offices, alongside key technical and operational staff within the commission.
“This retreat affords us room to discuss and calibrate matters that will foster our partnership. It also affords us an important rallying point for the provision of better protection services to our persons of concern.
“It is also to provide opportunity for discussions and shared understanding of NCFRMI-UNHCR collaboration in terms of shared strategy, vision and collaboration on the protection mandate, operations as well as broader partnerships and coordination,” she said.
Ibrahim appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for his unflinching support in strengthening the commission’s humanitarian policies and interventionist response programmes and projects.
She also applauded Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, for her vision, leadership, stewardship, dedication, guidance and excellent coordination efforts of the himanitarian sector.
The UNHCR Country Representative, Mrs Chanca Kapaya, said that the retreat was a new beginning of how they should aim to work henceforth.
“In other words, we should set aside the time to dialogue and find solutions to issues that confront us, so that we can find ways to address issues on persons of concerns.
“We need to discuss on some areas of cooperation so that we can all agree in one setting on the way forward.
“This is dialogue between colleagues, partners and friends. Dialogue is good to enhance deeper understanding.
“NCFRMI is a core partner with UNHCR on our core mandate on delivering international protection of persons of concerns,” Kapaya said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the retreat attracted relevant stakeholders in humanitarian sectors. (NAN)