Christian Aid has partnered Aid Foundation and Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women (LAWN) in Kaduna to launch a new UKaid funded programme to reduce poverty and improve wellbeing of over 200,000 marginalised persons in Kaduna and Anambra states.
Project Lead and Christian Aid Nigeria’s senior programme coordinator, Policy and Advocacy, Victor Arokoyo, said: “Desk reviews and stakeholder consultations across different sectors have shown that despite the progress government has made, there is still a disconnect between policies and the realities of the citizens.
“Therefore, leaning more towards policy making that is evidence-based is a key strategy to address this. The programme will therefore work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate and accurate data is collected and effectively used by policy makers, ensuring that citizens can play active roles in policy making processes.
“ECID programme is strategically placed to foster collaboration among CSOs, academia, policy makers, marginalised groups and private sector, which is reflected in the design of the programme structure itself.”
Christian Aid’s programme officer, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Mercy Okeke, said though the programme “is being officially launched on August 13, a number of activities have happened within the state.”
Mercy, who is also Kaduna state ECID project lead, said the activities included “stakeholders’ engagements and a baseline survey that consisted of focused group discussions, perception surveys, key informant interviews to determine the gaps in access to services across the four priority areas as well as issues of participation by marginalised groups.”
The Evidence and Collaboration for Inclusive Development (ECID) programme is a two-state programme funded by UK Aid and led by Christian Aid in collaboration with Civil Society Organizations across Anambra and Kaduna states. In Kaduna, the funded CSOs are AID Foundation, Hope for Communities and Children Initiative (H4CC), Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women (LANW).
