TQM report,
Oxfam through its project “Voice” in Nigeria presented its 2021 to 2022 grantees to the public.
In a media roundtable organized on Tuesday in Abuja, The International grantmaking organization advised non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organisation (CSOs) and other volunteer groups to be transparent and accountable in managing the fund gotten from donor agencies in order to attract more grants to Nigeria.
The Project Coordinator, Voice Nigeria, Ijeoma Okwor speaking at the event, said that the Voice project is being sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and since its inception in 2017 in Nigeria, it has been able to impact on the lives of Nigerians through grants for NGOs for different projects.
She informed that since 2017, Voice has given out grants to many NGOs in Nigeria considering their rightsholders groups(People with disabilities, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, Women facing exploitation, abuse and/or violence, Vulnerable elderly and youth, Indigenous People and ethnic minorities)
She mentioned some of the successes Voice has recorded in Nigeria such as establishment of gender sensitive manual in Correctional Services, officers in corrections service centres have been trained on the gender sensitive manual so that inmates can be treated with dignity, engagement of the youths in more productive venture to take them away from social vices like drug abuse as well as other issues affecting them like unemployment. Voice has succeeded in establishing a movement of coordinated young people that are using their arts for betterment of society.
“Nigerian youths are very talented, so we were able to channel these talents into useful things, like demanding for transparency, accountability and demanding for good governance”.
Speaking further, she also said that through Voice Project, the Nigerian Association of the Blind in Plateau State were able to set up a Cypercafe providing IT services for themselves and their community, Women were able to start owning land in a community in Enugu State and two women were appointed to be cabinet members in a community in Enugu State. She also said that the project has also produce a sign language glossary to enhance communication between deaf people and health practitioners including many other achievements.
She disclosed that currently, Voice Nigeria has given out grants to 15 new grantees with funds ranging from 100,000 Euros to 200,000 Euros and above. Under Influencing Grant(I-RANT Grant), they have 8 grantees, including YIAGA Africa, Connected Development, Street Project Foundation, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, Network of Youths for Sustainable Development, Centre for Ability, Rehabilitation and Empowerment, Public and Private Development Center and Carmelite Prisoners’ Interest Organization( CAPIO). Under Sudden Opportunity, which geared towards response to EndSARS, they have six grantees which includes Citizen Common, Foundation for Societal Empowerment & Rejuvenation (FOSER), Youth and Students Advocates Development Initiative (YSAD), Youth Foundation for Development, Education & Leadership, Center for Social Awareness Advocacy & Ethics(CSAAE) and Intergriti Technologies. They also have Innovate and Learn Grant and Empowerment Grant.
“The current grants are targeted to tackle a lot of issues in Nigeria such as the EndSARS protest and COVID-19 which exposed a lot of issues in Nigeria, including the way we do things, lack of accountability, transparency, etc on the part of state actors.
The grants are geared towards mobilizing young people to find alternative ways of expressing themselves based on what was seen during the EndSARS protest and Covid-19 lockdown. Instead of going to the street to protest, they can use their skills, voice, arts and anything else that is nonviolent and less confrontational to engage the authorities on their demands.
The grants would also address major issues concerning persons with disabilities in aviation and political participation. Most recently, the airlines are gravely discriminating against persons with disabilities
“Often times, persons with disabilities (PWDs) missed their flight not because they didn’t make themselves available to fly but because the airline companies don’t have accessible facilities for PWDs.
“Access for All Project” by Centre for Ability, Rehabilitation and Empowerment would be addressing the issues affecting PWDs in the aviation so that the scenario of grabbing a women with disabilities on a wheelchair by breast in the name of helping her board and many other dehumanizing practices against PWDs by airline operators will stop.
She advised NGOs and CSOs to utilize the little opportunity we have as a country. Let’s make the best of it because if these donors are not here, we still have to do our jobs. Let’s be transparent and accountable in the way we do things. Let’s coordinate better and leverage on what others have done, so that we don’t duplicate interventions. We should partner because I see the sector as a kind of brotherhood, where you learn from each other and share whatever you have; in order to maximize impacts already made in the country. The donor funding is dwindling for CSOs and NGOs, it is because a lot of donors are concerned with Nigeria and how NGOs utilize money meant for projects.
Voice Nigeria is committed to a more inclusive society and ensures no one is left behind. Indeed, all the efforts of government, development sector and private sector, can only be impactful if the beneficiaries of our intervention are involved in all our processes.
Voice is being implemented in 10 countries, Oxfam is implementing Voice in Nigeria and it just kickstarting 3 years extension of the project in Nigeria.
