FUDECO bags UN-SDG award for peaceful coexistence advocacy
By Saidu Adamu, Jalingo
The Fulbe Development and Cultural Organisation (FUDECO), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), has bagged the prestigious United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) award.
Mr. Sarli Sadu Nana, the founder of FUDECO, who disclosed this in a statement said that the recognition and award from the United Nations Positive Livelihoods Award Centre (UN-POLAC) came during the 2024 World Human Rights Day celebration in Abuja recently.
Nana said that the award was “in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of peace, better understanding, friendly relations among peoples of the world and the promotion of cultural heritage and nomadic education”.
According to Nana, “there can be no sustainable development without peace. I urge Nigerians to cherish and promote peaceful co-existence and shun all forms of hate speeches, which usually lead to violence. I believe that Nigerians are lucky to have the calibre of human resources such as the leaders and members of UN-POLAC, who, by all indications are great asset to Nigeria and the world”.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his message delivered virtually to the event, urged the awardees and members of the UN-POLAC to be ambassadors of peace for national development, and called on the recipients to see their awards as a call to additional service to humanity.
The Director-General of UN-POLAC, Prof. Obong Halo Eton, represented by Dr. Z. A. Ogunsanya, said the Centre is committed to human rights and sustainable development, emphasising that Human Rights Day is not only a time for reflection but a call to action.
Prof. Eton said, “this day reminds us of our shared duty to uphold the dignity, equality, and freedoms of all people. This event also celebrates UN-POLAC’s recent achievements, including the launch of a comprehensive training programme for Certified Peace Advocates, which aims to equip individuals with essential tools to mediate conflicts and foster understanding within their communities.
“Training empowers participants to become proactive agents of peace in their regions. The UN-POLAC has been at the forefront of promoting peace, advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and UNESCO’s Culture of Peace Programme, as well as expanded advocacy efforts”.
Our correspondent reports that FUDECO is a humanitarian development pastoralists NGO and a Participatory Action Research Network operating in 13 states in Nigeria, while UN-POLAC was established as an International autonomous institution in 2001 with the UN and UNESCO following the General Assembly Resolution, declaring 2001–2010 as a Decade of Peace and Non-violence.
UN-POLAC’s mandate is to enhance the effectiveness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO Culture of Peace Programme particularly the maintenance of peace and security and the restoration of human dignity.
