The Leprosy Mission Nigeria (TLMN) implementing as a Strategic Partner Organization (SPO) to Liliane Fonds has entered the second year of it’s five years strategic plan known as Inclusion First and it engaged 17 partner organizations(POs) in a grant worth N152 million to change different projects that geared towards addressing the needs of children and youth with disabilities and support livelihoods.

TLMN in an inception meeting with the POs on Thursday in Abuja introduced the 17 POs and announced the funds to be disbursed to them which will bring to support 2,212 young people with disabilities, as well as 940 parents and caregivers.

The National Director, TLMN, Dr Sunday Udo, said that they are implementing the programme to ensure the inclusion and livelihood support of children with disabilities in the society.

“We are supported by the Lilian Foundation to anchor their project in Nigeria as the key partner and we are engaging other partners who will help us carry out the project”.

“We just issued out N152 million for this programme to 17 organizations working in 15 states to meet and provide services to those chidren with disabilities”.

“The procedure is that every year, we issue a call for proposal which normally centered around a framework in our five years strategic plan to look at children and youngsters with disabilities from 0-25 years in Nigeria” he added.

“We issue out the call and then we want prospective grantees to apply on the basis of the criteria we have set, and to meet up with the things we require”.

“We go through a process of admin and general checks to identify and come down to this number which we have today.

“When we made that call we had over 300 applications but today we are giving grant to 17 POs, and we are hoping that this grant will span 15 states.

“For this year will cover first, inclusive education, we are covering livelihood support for parents of those who have disabilities, we are doing inclusive labor, sexual rights and reproductive health as well,” Udo said.

Udo, however, urged the POs to execute the funds judiciously at the target population for the expected outcomes.

“And, as we are having inception meeting to intimate our POs on what it is expected of them while implementing the project, we expect them to go out there and get results because we want results, we are also going to have close out meetings to showcase the results of the POs.

“We have already planned out, in between now and the end of the year specific time to go and visit them and see how far they are going.

“To ensure that the money is actually getting value for what it is meant for,” Udo said.

Mrs Nkechi Onwukwe, Director Special Needs, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development appreciated the Liliane Foundation for making available funding and TLMN for implementing the programme in Nigeria.

“We thank the Liliane Foundation for the funds and The Leprosy Mission Nigeria for being a worthy partner, who is taking a chunk to see that the lives of persons with disabilities are better.

“Especially, the future generation, being children with disabilities. The ministry has been partnering with the leprosy Mission and we count so much on what they are doing.

“Those in the position to assess know that they do not make noise but they are doing a great deal to ensure that they do what they are supposed to do to support and include persons with disabilities.

“The Ministry is doing a great deal, especially by providing the guidelines, making sure there is a good policy direction.

‘To ensure that all the work every partner, stakeholder does in Nigeria will follow the established policies by the Ministry.

“To the awardees, it is not a play time but for you to add your milestone to the work on disabilities because once this grant is given, I know you are experts.

“So, no minute should be wasted in ensuring that you implement the programmes you are supposed to and let them be result oriented,” Onwukwe said.

Barr. Yusuf Iyodo, the technical assistant to Joint National Association for Persons With Disabilities (JONAPWD) who represented the National Presiden, JONAPWD,Alhaji Abdullahi Usman Aliyu appreciated TLMN for the grants disbursement to the POs saying that the persons with disabilities are the beneficiaries and the age bracket of persons with disabilities that they project is covering is very crucial for the survival of disability movement in Nigeria.

He urged the POs to do their best to ensure that the targeted beneficiaries get the feel of the project and we will come celebrated together at the end of the project.

He offered the collaboration and the support of JONAPWD in all these states where the project implementation situated.

Mr Afolabi Fajemilo, Executive Director, Festus Fejemilo Foundation (FFF) one of the grantees also thanked the Liliane Foundation for funding the project through TLMN.

Fajemilo said its foundation like other grantees would ensure the funds were used for the purpose it was designed for to make an impact.

“Today we have just been presented a cheque for programmes for beneficiaries in the year 2022 and we are very happy to be among the successful grantees.

“For us, this grant will be supporting directly 40 children and young persons with disabilities and we will also be engaging with some other programmes such as advocacy for policy change to the benefit of these children with disabilities.

“That targets more children with disabilities including those that are not registered under our organization.

“We will be using this grant to promote rights of persons with disabilities specially advocating for the domestication of Disability Rights Law in Osun State,” he added.

Cheques were presented to the POs, they were full of smiles and optimistic that they are going to judiciously make use of the grant to deliver on their assignment.