The Cross River State Government has pledged to strengthen systems at the rural community level and support development partners in expanding interventions across the state.
The Commissioner for International Donor Coordination, Elder Dr. Hippolatus Ogar Lukpata, made the commitment during the monthly meeting of the Cross River State Development Partners Forum at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) field office in Calabar.
Lukpata said the administration of Governor Bassey Edet Otu was abreast of developments across the state and had deliberately established the systems, institutions and processes required to sustain progress and development.
He said government was addressing staffing requirements and ensuring proper deployment of personnel to critical areas, while urging development partners to submit reports on project drawdowns and challenges to enable government take proactive measures.
The commissioner also called on partners to strengthen collaboration with relevant organisations and expand their areas of intervention to minimise gaps, particularly in hard-to-reach communities.
The partners, in turn, called on the state government to prioritise the construction of rural roads to facilitate the delivery of development interventions to communities in the hinterland.
They commended Governor Otu for restoring peace and security across the state, saying the improved security situation had enabled them to access hard-to-reach communities without security threats, including at late hours.
According to them, their interventions extend beyond the state’s 196 political wards and cover agriculture, water and sanitation, child health, environmental protection, maternal and child nutrition, gender equity, HIV/AIDS, livestock development and land restoration.
Other areas include infrastructure support, governance and accountability, healthcare and education. Lukpata also said Cross River should begin benefiting from carbon credits, stressing that the process should commence with REDD+ at the forefront.
The meeting featured progress reports from the State Nutrition Office, AIDS Healthcare Foundation and State Bureau of Statistics, with 36 development partners operating across Cross River in attendance.
By Iloke Egbe
