Second Year: USAID organises reflection session with CSOs, PWDs
The USAID State to State Activity has held a Purse and Reflect session for the fourth quarter of year two activity with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), coalition in Gombe State.
The session which is the last for the second year of the activity, held at the International Hotel Gombe, had in attendance people with disabilities PWDs.
The State Team Lead representative Hajiya Zariyatu Abubakar said the state to state activity which started in October 2020 is approaching it third year in Gombe explaining that the first year focused on baseline assessment, strategic planning and the second year had full engagement involvement of government and civil society organisations.
She said, “The activity targets on good governance, public finance management, conflict management and citizens engagement and with successes recorded, we are moving to the local government areas in the approaching third year.”
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The Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Specialist Mrs Ivy Dooga, said the purpose of the Purse and Reflect session is to capture relevant feedback to improve project performance and outcomes.
“The Purse and Reflect session meeting is meant to generate insights that can be applied to adjust,adapt implementation vand maximize outcomes of the USAID State to State Activities in Gombe State focusing on service delivery and targeting CSOs coalition and subgurantee CSOs across the key sectors of Health, Education and Wash,” Dooga added.
According to Dooga, the objective is to share knowledge and get updates from relevant CSO in the state on heir activities as they relate to our priority sectors of Health, Education and WASH and elicit the views of CSOs on the support they receive from the State to State team for their activities.
“Other objectives are to capture lessons learned across the CSOs coalitions in terms of their advocacy experience, strategise on the increasing budgetary allocation in the priority sectors and incorporate citizen’s needs in the 2023 budget in the priority sectors and to be able to understand the level of governance reforms because of CSOs activities and State to State intervention in the state.”
The Gombe State Chairman Association of Non Governmental Organisations (ANGO), Ibrahim Yusuf, in an interview with Periscope Nigeria, said state to state activity has increased the capacity of members on citizens engagement, budget analysis and good governance.
“There is now good relationship with Ministries, Departments and Agencies MDAs and government with Civil Society Organisations CSOs.In the past Government sees us as witch hunters but they now see us as partners in progress,” Yusuf said.
He called on state to state activity to engage more CSOs in it year three and make it procedures easy to access grants especially Community Based Organisations for more positive results.
Yusuf said, “As the state moves to Local Government Areas I advise engagement of critical and relevant Stakeholders and Civil Society Organisations for proper engagements and maximum outputs.”
To the CSOs, the ANGO Chairman called on them to be more committed and dedicated to work.
Also speaking, Rebecca Hassan, a Person Living Disability appreciated State to State for it social inclusion policy.
Hassan said, “They have been engaging us in their activities from day one and today we are being carried along in government activities.”
“I want to call on state to state activity to engage more of our members at the grassroot and for government to pass the PWD law,” She added.
