Zamfara gov’t moves to address demographic challenges 

Zamfara State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has embarked on a stakeholders’ sensitisation exercise on demographic dividends for the future development of the state.

The sensitisation programme was organised by the State Ministry of Budget and Planning in collaboration with the UNFPA.

The first category of the training had participants from the media, CSOs, academia and government officials.

The participants of the second and third batches of the training included commissioners, traditional rulers, directors, heads of government agencies and parastatals, among others.

The State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Abdulmalik Gajam, while speaking at the training session in Gusau on Tuesday, described Zamfara State Government’s partnership with UNFPA as a welcome development.

Gajam, represented by the director of administration of the ministry, Bashir Mailafiya, urged the participants to open their minds and discuss extensively with a view to achieving the general objectives of the program.

“I am particularly delighted to see the diverse stakeholders and policy makers, technical experts, for a project of our state’s development through effective population management and investment of our people.

“The present administration under Gov. Dauda Lawal would continue to collaborate with stakeholders to translate faster economic growth, improved productivity, and enhanced social well-being.

“This opportunity will not happen automatically; it requires collaborative and sustained investments in key areas such as education, health, job creation, and good governance,” Gajam added.

He noted that: “Our teeming youths must be healthy, well-educated, and meaningfully engaged to drive innovation, productivity and inclusive growth.”

Gajam added, “Today’s engagement is, therefore, not just another meeting; it is a call to action. It is also a platform to work for addressing our current demographic challenges.”

Also speaking, the Special Adviser to Gov. Dauda Lawal on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Aliyu Adamu-Barmo, said the demographic dividends programme was in line with the state government’s policy on health, education, youths and women empowerment.

“The SDGs office in the state was ever ready to collaborate with all stakeholders to enhance grassroots sensitisation for actualising the demographic dividend processes.

“This is timely as the meeting would discuss the state’s demographic profile and trends, highlighting the implications for social and economic planning.

“This meeting would also identify policy and programmatic gaps that need to be addressed to create an enabling environment for harnessing the demographic,” Adamu-Barmo said.

The Assistant Representative of the UNFPA, Prof. Andat Dasogot, who facilitated the training, said engagement with the stakeholders was necessary considering their roles in the sensitisation process.
“The demographic dividends aim to ensure that we reduce the dependents in our growing population.
“This is to ensure that we invest more in education, skills, health and create more opportunities for the teeming population and provide good governance for them.
“Having extended all our presentations, we expect the participants to move further and extend the knowledge acquired at their various levels,” Dasogot said.
Earlier, Mr Lawal Shehu, State UNFPA Coordinator, said the training aimed to sensitise stakeholders on the concept of demographic dividend.

Shehu said that the overall objective of the sensitisation meeting is to enhance stakeholders’ understanding of the demographic dividend and to promote coordinated actions toward harnessing it for sustainable development in Zamfara.

“Specifically, this meeting aims to increase awareness among policymakers, development partners, and stakeholders on the concept of the demographic dividend and its relevance to Zamfara State’s development agenda,” he added.

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