Katsina State Governor and Chairman of the North-West Governors’ Forum, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, will on Monday, September 21, lead governors from the region’s seven states to a high-level side event at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The engagement is expected to place the North-West’s regional development agenda before international development partners, investors, financial institutions and private-sector leaders, while seeking partnerships and financing for the implementation of a new regional peace, security and development framework.
The side event, titled “From Fragility to Opportunity: Locally Led Pathways to Peace, Resilience and Investment in Fragile Contexts,” will provide a platform for the North-West Governors’ Forum to present the North-West Peace, Security and Development Framework 2026–2030 to a global audience.
According to a statement issued by the Katsina State Government, the forum has evolved in less than two years from discussions around shared regional challenges to the adoption of a common framework covering peace, security, resilience and development across the seven North-West states.
The process, the statement said, has received support from the United Nations system, particularly the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), alongside sustained high-level engagement from UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed.
The framework was formally adopted and launched at the third meeting of the North-West Governors’ Forum in Abuja in March 2026. At the time, Radda said sustained collaboration and shared responsibility were critical to addressing the region’s security and development challenges.
The New York engagement is expected to broaden the focus of the regional initiative beyond the challenges facing the North-West to its economic and development opportunities.
According to the Katsina State Government, Radda will use the engagement to highlight the region’s collective strengths, emerging institutions and investment opportunities across agriculture, infrastructure, energy, technology, mining and human capital.
The Forum will also seek stronger partnerships, financing and private-sector investment to support implementation of the 2026–2030 framework.
The regional proposition will be presented under the message: “Seven States. One Ambition.”
The government described the UNGA engagement as a transition from building consensus among the seven states to presenting a coordinated North-West development proposition to the international community.
The seven states represented by the North-West Governors’ Forum are Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara.
The September 21 event is also expected to provide an opportunity for the region to engage development and financial partners on the resources required to translate the framework into programmes and investments across the seven states.
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