The plight of the Internally Displaced Persons-IDPs in Nigeria has been prioritised to lead the agenda at this year’s World Habitat Day being organized by a global sustainable development firm, Ecologistics Integrated Services in conjunction with other stakeholders such as the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency-LASEPA, Sesor-The Empowerment Foundation and Partnership For A New Nigeria-PFAAN.
According to the President of Ecologistics Integrated Services, Dr. Paul Abolo, the World Habitat Day is the one day set aside annually to recognize the basic right of all humanity to adequate shelter and encourage grassroots action toward ending housing poverty. It is declared in 1985 by the United Nations’ general assembly to be celebrated in every first Monday of October.
Stating further, Dr. Abolo said “Ecologistics joins with our partners around the world to rededicate ourselves to a world where everyone has a decent place to live. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns”.
The IDPs can pose a challenge to our collective wellbeing if not properly managed and this focused event will provide an excellent opportunity to highlight key human settlement issues within the context of the IDPs to ensure that these camps don’t translate to slums thereby compounding on population problems posed by movement of these displaced Nigerians from their homelands.
Each year, the World Habitat Day takes on a new theme chosen by the United Nations based on current issues relevant to the Habitat agenda. The themes are selected to bring attention to UN-Habitat’s mandate to promote sustainable development policies that ensure adequate shelter for all.
Ecologistics Integrated Services and its partners-Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Sesor-The Empowerment Foundation and PFAAN are working on the theme: Our Cities and The IDPs-Checking Nigeria’s Urban Vulnerability Through Actionable Habitat Initiatives For The Nigerian IDP” which has been designed to address the link between the environmental impact of IDPs and the challenge of providing an appreciable habitat for these victims of society.
