Civil Society Organizations under the European Union Agent for Citizen-Driven Transformation (EU-ACT) project have been charged to mentor other CSOs towards achieving sustainable development and credibility in their work.
This was stated at the Closure of the EU-ACT project in Port Harcourt, which was funded by the European Union and implemented by the British Council, with 21 CSOs in Rivers State as partners.
The close out program with the theme, “Reflecting on the Journey and Impacts of ACT Programme in Rivers State” held on the 26th of March in Port Harcourt, and was widely attended by government representatives, CSOs, community representatives and others.
In his welcome address, the ACT National Programme Manager, Damilare Babalola revealed that the ACT project which ran for five years in other states and four years in Rivers State, engaged 233 CSOs in 10 states, with 21 of these CSOs based in Rivers State.
According to him, the priority of the programme is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in Nigeria, by supporting CSOs to be more credible and effective agents of development.
“This project provides holistic organizational capacity support to these organizations, looking at their ability to do their work and to relate with other CSOs and stakeholders who provide an enabling environment.”
During a section of the program for testimonials by the consortium leads, individual grantees and community beneficiaries, the different speakers listed some of the trainings they have received and the impacts of the ACT program on their organizations and individual lives which included: Institutional capacity development,
Organizational capacity building policy, Proposal writing, citizen participation in LGAs
staff strengthening, communication strategies, knowledge management, program development, finance management, Peer learning sessions amongst others.
Also speaking at the program, the executive governor of Rivers State, Siminilayi Fubara who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Barr. Diokuma Ishmeal commended the EU and the British Council for bringing such initiative to the state.
He regretted that such program that has yielded remarkable results in the state has come to an end. He pledged the government’s commitment to uphold the contributions of the funders, and to continue to expand and improve on the capacity development and enabling synergy among stakeholders.
On her part, the Component 1 Manager of the ACT Project, Dr. Ifeoma Chukwuma stated that the ACT project has provided a firm background for the partnering CSOs to continue, by collaborating with one another and coming together as a critical mass to engage with the government on issues that affect the community members and the society.
“ We expect our partners to continue their good works and to also get ambitious by engaging with other donors, collaborating with other CSOs and even engaging the private sectors to adhere to their corporate social responsibilities.
In his closing remark, Focal Person of the Rivers State ACT Programme, Temple Oraeki stated that the ACT Programme was designed to build the individual partner CSOs holistically, both internally and externally.
He added that it was honour to know that the ACT Programme has raised CSOs that are credible agents of change, that any donor can work with.
The program also featured a panel session with the theme, “How the CSOs in Rivers State can continue to effectively collaborate with donors, MDAs and Media for the greater good of the state”.
The highlights of the event were cultural dance performances, recognition of distinguished partners and the presentation of awards to the partner CSOs.
Awesome
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