In his welcome remarks, the Coordinator of Niger State UN-Habitat Urban Support Programme Professor Mustapha Zubairu, emphasized the need for the participants to take advantage of the UN-Habitat support to improve their productivity through internalization of the knowledge acquired and value addition. He assured them of more opportunities in the course of  implementing the State Urban Policy and the Integrated Development Plans for Minna and Suleja.

In his goodwill message, the Project Advisor of German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Niger State, Mr Bello Dantoro, lauds UN-Habitat in building the capacity of the institutions, more importantly in the aspect of collecting reliable  data for planning and decision making. He informed the participants of GIZ’s upcoming GIS training for officials of Ministry of Lands and Housing which he believed would complement the effort of UN-Habitat in repositioning planning activities in the state.

Participants were given hands-on training on mobile data collection and survey using Kobocollect, which would facilitate the institutionalization of URL in Niger State. Participants agreed to adhere to the workplan and ensure its quick accomplishment in the interest of policy coherence towards urban-rural linkages and sustainable development in Niger State.

The participants acknowledged that the training was a unique platform to have better understanding of the significance of urban – rural continuum and bridging the development gaps between urban and rural systems. They recognised that this effort would contribute to the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially SDG 11 “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.

Participants were drawn from 11 Niger State Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), including Niger State Ministry of land and housing, Niger State Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Niger State Planning commission,Niger State Rural Access Mobility Project, Niger State Rural Water and Sanitation Agency, Niger State Bureau of Statistics, Community and Social Development Programme (CSDP), Niger State Electricity Board, Niger State Urban Development Board, Niger State Geographic Information Systems, Niger State Ministry of Power and Energy, one NGO – (Regional Centre For Expertise, Minna) and German Agency for International Cooperation  (GIZ).

The training was part of the United Nations Development Account (UNDA) project that aims at building and strengthening capacities of policy makers and change agents at all levels to collect and use evidence in urban policies and strategies that promote urban-rural linkages. The project is implemented in 4 countries in Africa namely: Cameroon, Guinea Conakry, Zanzibar (Tanzania) and Niger state (Nigeria).