We got value for CA$11m spent on improving adolescents’ health – REACH Project Director
Rahinatu Adamu Hussaini, the Project Director of Save the Children International (SCI) Reaching and Empowering Adolescents to make informed Choices for their Health (REACH) Project, said the over 11million Canadian dollars spent on implementing the REACH Project in three Northern states of Gombe, Katsina and Zamfara was worth it.
Hussaini disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja on the sideline of REACH Project sustainability plan review workshop for key stakeholders from Gombe state.
She said that the aim of the project in the three states which is to touch lives of adolescents and improve knowledge around Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) had been met.
According to her, even adults that do not know what ASRH mean are now aware and understand that adolescents need their support, so “we have been able to create hopes and dreams in adolescents in these states.”
The REACH Project Director said within the three and a half years of the project, adolescents in the states and LGAs where the project was implemented had come to realize the need for reproductive health services for their health which according to her, has improved access to reproductive health services.
Based on the testimonies and gains recorded so far, “I can tell you that there is absolute value for money spent in implementing this project in the three states.”
“The money is worth it because we have touched lives of adolescents.
“There is one of the children Parliament. He was an Almajiri but today he is back to school and doing very well and this is all because of REACH, that is worth talking about; so every penny spent is worth it,” she said.
Hussaini, however, expressed concerns on the need for sustainability of the project, to build on the gains, so “we are calling on not just governments but philanthropists from these states to support the gains that have been very crucial in the development of adolescents in their respective states.
She hinted that though resources was key, Hussaini, however, emphasized the need for renewed commitment and will to continue the project.
Asked whether the REACH Project would be sustained by SCI through Global Affairs Canada, Hussaini said “I am not seeing REACH coming back because at the commencement of the project, there was a commitment by Global Affairs Canada to say it’s a three-year programme and we got an extension by six months with over 11million Canadian dollars of tax payers money from another country, I think it is a kick-start for us to pick from where they stopped to continue to touch the lives of adolescents.”
She commended all stakeholders across board for their supports while urging more commitments towards sustaining reproductive health services for adolescents in Gombe, Katsina and Zamfara states.
