According to USAID Nigeria Peace, Democracy and Governance Office Director, Angela Martin, who spoke at the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement ‘SCALE’ closeout event, “USAID remains committed to supporting Nigeria’s journey towards a more inclusive and democratic society.”
She disclosed that SCALE activity, after launch in October 2020, and implemented by Palladium, achieved more than 81 policy actions across sectors at federal, state, and local levels. Other achievements included, “support for a nationwide CSO self-regulation consultation, resulting in a CSO self-regulation council, an initiative that identified six regulatory frameworks, addressing issues of corruption, money laundering, and terrorist financing, and over 400 organizations have adopted these frameworks.
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“Integration of perspectives from women, youth, and people with disabilities into civic space dialogues with the government’, ‘Engagement with security agencies, traditional, religious, and community leaders to address trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence, and child marriage’, a project that supported local efforts to identify and report cases, leading to 28 investigated trafficking cases, and ‘Launch of four postgraduate programs on organizational development and advocacy at Nasarawa State University, Keffi.”
Over the past four years, USAID, through SCALE activity in Nigeria, announced to have also trained 215 CSOs and BMOs and supported more than 1,000 organizations to drive policy reforms addressing developmental challenges, poverty, education, healthcare, corruption, service delivery, citizen participation in governance, and gender equality.
It also announced that the $8.4 million in grants won by SCALE, supported CSO partners through training, mentoring, coaching, and enhancing their sustainability.
The SCALE activity’s achievements aim to guide future initiatives for strengthening civil society and development in Nigeria, it confirmed.