Humanitarian Aid Alone Insufficient for SDGs, Says EU Ambassador

The European Union (EU) has emphasized that while humanitarian and development assistance remain crucial, they are not, on their own, enough to achieve the ambitious 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This assertion was made by the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, during a recent visit to Skyline University in Kano State.

Ambassador Mignot highlighted that the EU, as the world’s leading provider of official development aid (contributing approximately 42 percent of global Official Development Assistance), recognizes the limitations of traditional aid in fostering long-term sustainable development.

“If you look at the Official Development Assistance (ODA) by itself, it will not be sufficient to reach the SDGs which we all adopted in 2015 as shared common goals of the whole international community,” Mignot stated.

To bridge this gap and accelerate progress towards the SDGs, the EU is increasingly leveraging private investments and resources through its comprehensive Global Gateway Strategy. This strategy aims to support critical sectors in partner countries like Nigeria, including energy, agriculture, education, health, and digital infrastructure, with the goal of bringing sustainable development directly to the people.

Ambassador Mignot called for stronger cooperation between the EU, Nigeria, and the wider African continent, emphasizing that genuine sustainable development can only be achieved through collaboration rooted in shared values such as respect for individual rights, human rights, the rule of law, civil liberties, and democracy.

He also urged Nigerian citizens, particularly the youth, to actively engage in fact-checking and avoid the spread of unverified information, stating, “It is very important to avoid and detect disinformation; fact-check to debunk fake news. It is a service to you and your community.”

The EU’s perspective underscores a global shift in development financing, moving beyond a purely donor-beneficiary relationship to one based on partnership, mutual interests, and strategic investments. The emphasis is now on building robust, resilient economies and societies that can sustain their own development trajectory, rather than relying indefinitely on external aid.