During the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Week, the Network of Youth for Sustainable Initiative (NGYouthSDGs) organised the Lagos People’s Assembly with support from Action for Sustainable Development. The event with the theme ‘United for a Sustainable Nigeria’ was organised to raise awareness about SDGs 1, 4, 8, 12 and 13 and explore ways to foster addressing the challenges young people face. Strategy for Mentoring Initiative and Leadership Empowerment (S.M.I.L.E) and Sprout Talent Network partnered with NGYouthSDGs to host the event, bringing together young people and members of the private sector in Lagos, Nigeria.
NGYouthSDGs’ Programmes Associate Boluwatife Ajayi, in her opening remarks, shared the objectives of the event, saying ‘’this event aims to empower attendees to harness their agency for the SDGs and share ideas on ways to address the critical issues of localising the SDGs in Nigeria.’’ Speaking further, Boluwatife Ajayi mentioned that ‘’we are here to design solutions while inspiring one another towards practical actions that will bridge the implementation gap of the SDGs in Nigeria with regards to youth leadership.’’
The event had a panel discussion which had speakers like Ms Ajibola Babalola, Head of Communications at S.M.I.L.E, Mr Joshua Okoduwa, Founder of Restructure Africa, Ms Tolulope Makinwa, founder of Muazu Africa and Ms Funmilayo Akannishelle moderated the session. The panel looked at Nigeria’s current ranking on the SDGs Index and shared strategies that will help Nigeria meet the targets of the SDGs by 2030.
Following the panel session, participants were in a breakout session to explore ways that will foster the attainment of the SDGs in Nigeria with emphasis on citizen education and capacity building, government transparency and accountability and the private sector integrating the SDGs into their corporate social responsibility and encouraging stakeholders to track progress by both government and the private sector.
You can watch the event highlight below
