Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika had appealed to the Secretary General, International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO to revive the ICAO Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), which has remained inactive since 2018.
The Minister who made the call in his speech to declare open the 7th African-Ocean, AFI Conference in Abuja urged all Member States and the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) to join their voices in seeing the HRDF revived.
He said, Nigeria had generously contributed to the fund and equally benefited from the inaugural secondment of officers to ICAO under this programme.
Sirika noted that, the exposure, experience and knowledge gained by the officers attest to the usefulness of the HRDF programme.
The Minister also raised the need to address the issue of financing and modernization of aviation infrastructure in line with the historic Declaration and Framework for Plan of Action for Aviation Infrastructure Development in Africa adopted at the ICAO World Aviation Forum (IWAF) in Abuja in 2017.
“It is important to recall that in accordance with ICAO Assembly Resolution A40-9, Appendix C Section II Article 7, the Implementation of this declaration should be done under the AFI Plan and I hope this is on the agenda for this event”.
He reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to supporting ICAO’s initiatives and collaboration with Member States and development partners on the development of air transport in Africa.
Sirika commended ICAO’s leadership based on collaboration and coordination with Member States and stakeholders as this has encouraged Member States to collaborate and pool resources in resolving challenges particularly in the area of enhancing safety in our Sub-region.
“One of the outcomes of such collaboration is the Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa, which metamorphosized in the West Africa region into the Banjul Accord Group Aviation Safety Oversight Organization (BAGASOO), in Abuja, which is hosted and substantially funded by Nigeria”.
He added, “This organization has continued to support the Member States in improving their safety oversight capabilities and human resource development”.
