By MAUREEN OKON

Nigeria has secured a seat at the Total Official Support for Sustainable Development Goals (TOSSD) as a major player, says Dr Yusuf Yakub, the Director-General of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC).

Yakub made this known in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while attending TOSSD General Assembly Meeting (GAM) holding in Madrid, Spain.

NAN reports that TOSSD is a multilateral development cooperation agency with headquarters in Paris, France.

It is also a statistical metric that tracks a wide range of global resource flows to support sustainable development

This includes official development finance, private finance mobilised by official support, and domestic contributions to global public goods, such as pandemic preparedness.

TOSSD aims to provide a comprehensive picture of international support for the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Yakub said that Nigeria remained committed to the sustainable development ideals of TOSSD, even as an observer since 2017.

He said that Nigeria has been contributing to the SDGs and ideals using the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) scheme to bridge both the educational and professional gaps in countries in need of professionals for 38-years now.

According to him, Nigeria was accepted as a member of TOSSD after an elaborate presentation of the TAC engagement for 38 years to the 28 EU Members States.

“Nigeria was then given a membership seat and was also adopted into the Steering Committee of TOSSD. Nigeria is now accepted as a full time member of TOSSD,” he said.

He highlighted the importance of the country’s full membership of the body as provider of sustainable development goals across the world.

The 28-member-State of the EU body whose full membership include: France, Greece, Norway and Qatar, and the Organisation of American States, among others were present at the GAM. (NAN)