By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that just won grants award for the implementation of the ongoing United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded intervention under an activity titled “State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State)” have pledged to implement their activities inline with the Donor’s term of reference (ToR) that highlights transparency and an all-inclusive approach to implementation.
The pledge was made by a representative of Mangrove and Partners (Grantee), Mrs. Deborah Kogi in a remark, on behalf of other Grantees, at the end of a Two Days intensive Grants Inception Meeting organized by USAID State 2 State Activity which held in Bauchi.
Mrs. Kogi said that the meeting/training has exposed the Grantees on the renewed ‘all-inclusive’ approach to implementation of activities , which has been the hallmark of all USAID interventions.
The Grantees, through Mr. Kogi, also appreciated USAID State 2 State Activity for refreshing their knowledge on some basic ethics and practices in carrying out their assignments on the field.
On the Grantees’ expectations from the USAID State 2 State Activity, Kogi said more capacity training needs to be organised, especially in the areas of monitoring and evaluation (M&E).
“We want to commend USAID State 2 State Activity for selecting us among the over 100 organizations that applied for the grant and having the confidence in our ability to deliver in our respective thematic areas. Rest assured that we won’t take that confidence for granted”.
“Though, we have been involved in implementing other donors intervention in our respective organizations, we hope the USAID State 2 State activity will organize capacity training on the rudiments of monitoring and evaluation processes with which we are going to be measuring successes or otherwise of this particular activity”.
“We also appreciate you for selecting persons with disability (PWD) to be part of the implementation process. This is indeed an intervention that is all-inclusive”, said Mrs. Kogi.
In his closing remarks, the Gombe State Team Lead (STL) Muhammad Bello thanked the Grantees for their commitment throughout the meeting which he described as heart-warming and encouraging.
He said that the meeting was just the beginning of a partnership that would see all parties meeting on a regular basis in the course of implementation.
Our correspondent reports that Bauchi State Grantees selected for the implementation are: Better Life Restoration Initiative (BERI), Safer World Foundation, Center for Information, Technology and Development (CITAD), Mangrove & Partners, Reproductive Health Initiative and Support Association (RHISA) and Rahama Women Development Program (RWDP).
And those selected for implementation in Gombe State are: Foundation for Youth Awakening and Empowerment, Center for Community Health and Development International, United State Alumni Gombe, Energetic Youth Heritage Initiative, and Cedar Seed Foundation.
The Grantees will be implementing the USAID State2State activities on specific thematic areas for the period of one year.