Norway has initiated a 5-year development programme to build the capacity of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to enhance humanitarian interventions in the northeast.
Syed Hassan, the Localization Focal Person in Nigeria, made the disclosure at a one-day orientation exercise organised for CSOs operating in the North East on Thursday in Maiduguri.
Hassan said that the project tagged ‘Localization-Lake Chad Basin Capacity Development Project”, is aimed to empower the CSOs, build resilience, encourage effective service delivery and ensure sustainability of humanitarian interventions.
He disclosed that the project would be implemented under the Norwegian Capacity Programme (NORCAP) in collaboration with the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), World Food Programme (WFP), International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs), the Federal and Borno State Government.
Hassan said the programme would be implemented in Borno under the first phase and expanded to cover Adamawa and Yobe under its second phase.
According to him, the project recorded significant successes in Chad and Niger Republics since its implementation in 2017.
Ahmed Shehu, the Regional Coordinator, Civil Society Network, said that the project focused at building capacity of the CSOs, to enable them respond and contribute towards addressing humanitarian crisis in the region.
Shehu revealed that a number of registered organisations would be selected to participate under the first phase of the project, adding that the programme would be expanded under the subsequent phases to enhance participation of more organisations.
“There is the need for humanitarian community to support and work with local partners to ensure sustainability and local ownership.
“The goal of the project is to enhance the institutional capacity of members of CSOs in areas of organisational planning; financial management, transparency, resource mobilisation and project development, management, monitoring and evaluation.
“The project will enable members of the CSOs in humanitarian mission and strengthen their resilience in responding to disasters and crisis through capacity development.
“At the same time the project will contribute to increased accountability to the affected people,” he said.
According to him, there are over 400 registered CSOs operating in the state. (NAN)
