Connected Development’s home-grown
initiative, Follow The Money, has emerged winner of the 2019 United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals Mobilizer Award!
This announcement was made at
the SDG Global Festival of Action currently holding in Bonn, Germany. The SDG
Action Awards Global Project Leader, Laura Hildebrandt, said that the award
showcased some of the greatest innovators, mobilizers, connectors,
storytellers, communicators, visualizers and includers from across the Globe.
Expressing delight about the
recognition, Follow The Money Founder and Chief Activist, Hamzat Lawal,
dedicated the award to rural grassroots communities across Africa and to the
CODE team for their resilience in promoting the Follow The Money mission even
in the face of insurmountable pressure. Hamzat added that “this recognition
shows that our little efforts to promote social accountability and advocate for
better service delivery in marginalized communities are not in vain.
We are honoured by the show of love and we thank everyone for their immeasurable support. This win is for Nigeria. We are elated that our work and impact stood out from among thousands of brilliant applications from all over the world,” Lawal added.
The Follow The Money Founder further stated that “young people in Nigeria are carrying out remarkable projects that are geared towards nation building, yet communicating the impact of their works to the global community seems to be a challenge. With this UN SDG award, I am committed to helping passionate and driven youth get the needed recognition for their works. We all have a role to play in showcasing unique innovative talents in Nigeria to the global community.”
According to Mitchell Toomey,
Global Director of the UN SDG Action Campaign, “The 2019 winners are the most
impactful, transformative and creative SDG Action drivers.
They dared
to believe and act for change. They are perfect examples of the wonderful humanitarian
work that is happening around the world led by thousands, if not millions, of
people.”
Follow The Money which started
in Nigeria over seven years ago, has chapters in Kenya, The Gambia, Cameroon
and Liberia. As the largest social mobilization & accountability movement
in Africa, it has advocated, visualized and tracked USD 10 million meant for social
development across African grassroots communities, directly impacting over
2,000,000 rural lives.
More than ever before, grassroots communities in the Northern part of Nigeria have been deprived of basic human needs — healthcare, potable water, quality education; further degrading them of standard living condition.
In recent years, International Non-governmental organizations and the Nigerian Government have focused their interventions on Nigeria’s North with the sole intention of pulling more people out of poverty and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by the year 2030. The achievement of the 17 set goals by the United Nations, is the responsibility of every organisation, every institution and every person, especially as many of the goals are the fundamental rights of humans. Working to protect those rights and sustainability is no doubt a huge task and responsibility that government and stakeholders should give adequate priority.
My desire and passion for
driving change was borne from witnessing insurgency and suppression of the people
of Borno, a State in the NorthEast of Nigeria. I joined Follow The Money (FTM),
the largest grassroots social accountability movement in Africa, with the aim
of tracking government and international funding meant for the benefits of
citizens and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities.
In the past 3 years of my journey within the
transparency and accountability space, I have been equipped with the knowledge
of using transparency tools in advocating the SDGs, especially in promoting
quality education for all (SDG 4), a cause I am quite passionate about.
The provision of quality education to vulnerable regions in Nigeria continues to be a challenge that requires the unswerving commitment of the government. One way the education milestones in rural communities can be achieved is in building more classrooms to millions of learners in these regions, who continue to receive education in overcrowded classrooms.
In February 2018, we began
an Education campaign in Mairi Kuwait community of Borno State, to enhance
service delivery and ensure funds earmarked to the village was judiciously
utilized.
Maimusari Primary School is the only education centre in Mairi Kuwait Maimusari, a remote community in Borno State, about 64 kilometres from Bama and Gwoza, terrorist-affected areas, in Northern Nigeria. The school has over 4000 children, including children from the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps nearby. There are 141 academic and non-academic staff who have offices stationed under trees since there are no erected structures. The Headmaster and Principal are able to manage a small common room space near the trees.
Not only was the building
in a deplorable state, children were packed in hundreds of numbers in a
classroom. Overcrowding makes it impossible for the environment to be conducive
for learning and oftentimes, most children were discouraged from going to
school.
Once we got information
that fund had been disbursed for the construction of two blocks of three
classrooms in Mairi Kuwait school, Follow The Money team, which I am an active
member, began an advocacy campaign calling for work to begin. Our campaign,
#ErectKuwait, was activated through community engagements; town hall meetings
with stakeholders including community residents, school key principals, the
chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), media
representatives and the project contractors (Ravicam Investment Limited).
FTM further amplified the
campaign to the Federal Government so the implementation of the project can be
expedited. Indigenes of Mairi Kuwait joined the process of tracking funds
disbursed for the school projects, after we had sensitized them and trained
them on how to hold government accountable.
Our intervention at the community has been a dedication of time and strength with a focus on holding Government officials accountable. Today Mairi Kuwait is a beneficiary of four newly built classrooms and also with our effort and advocacy additional classrooms are ongoing in Galtimari primary and junior secondary school. Running through community outreaches, stakeholders and town hall meetings has been a huge task and a challenging one too, but today we are happy to make an impact in the process of achieving the sustainable development goal 4.
My outreach to Mairi Kuwait
community and school facility gave me a clear picture of the dilapidated
structures and condition our young children have been subjected to, not only in
the northeast but all over Nigeria. Tracking this project, on the Follow The
Money platform, has exposed me to how citizens can make a collective impact in
advocating for change. Our collective intervention will help get millions of
children into school. Together we can achieve a sustainable world.
Alarmed by the accelerating number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, two civil society organisations; Connected Development(CODE) and FlexiSAF Foundation have come together to combine their resources in identifying out of school children and providing quality basic education. In direct accordance with the SDG 4 and SDG 17, Connected Development and FlexiSAF Foundation are on a mission to reach these targets ahead of 2030.
Statistics show that there are about 13.2 million
Nigerian children currently not in school and this figure is increasing by the
day, particularly in the Northern part of Nigeria. Issues of insurgency,
conflicts and unrest militating the North-East combined with deep-rooted
poverty, and certain cultural factors especially in the North have pushed the
rate of out-of-school children high. Even the few educational facilities in
these rural settings are in deplorable conditions—dilapidated structures, no
libraries, congested classrooms with poor ventilation, damaged or no furniture,
causing pupils to sit on classroom floors—further discouraging children from
attending school.
The United Nations International Children’s
Emergency Fund (UNICEF) records that Girls account for 60 per cent of the
out-of-school population. For every 100 boys of primary age out of school, 121
girls are denied the right to education, worsening gender-based discrimination
and putting girls at a disadvantage. Displacement and child marriage also
significantly affect a girl’s chances of going to school. Issues of water,
sanitation and hygiene, and in many cases, insecurity affecting the delivery of
education in conflict affected areas, are contributing factors driving children
– particularly girls – away from the classroom.
Distressed by the growing number of out of school children in Nigeria,
Connected Development and FlexiSAF Foundation are partnering to identify and
verify the number of out of school children in selected states in Nigeria and
increase citizen participation through awareness raising.
According to Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, Chairman, FlexiSAF Foundation, the
partnership comes at a time when sustainable measures must be put in place to
strengthen the quality of education in the country and curtail the growing
number of out of school children, which has grossly affected the Nation,
particularly the Northern region. “It is indeed a remarkable feat to partner
with Connected Development (CODE) in our mutual goal to reach out a helping
hand to communities in need. We will be able to have access to more communities
to provide quality basic education for all children,” he added.
CODE’s Chief
Executive, Hamzat Lawal, stated that “the future of Nigeria is strongly
determined by the quality of education of its children. How can we begin to
talk about quality education when a large proportion of Nigeria’s young ones
are out-of-school?” Lawal was worried that out-of-school children are
constantly being exposed to danger of violence, assault, exploitation and
anti-social recruitments such as terrorism, child-trafficking and kidnapping.
He noted that addressing out of school children is a challenge that the
Nigerian Government must tackle with a sense of urgency.
He also noted that the partnership will be a great leap in pursuing
the cause of reducing the number of out-of-school children. CODE is committed
to providing its resources in supporting the cause by collating the number of
out of school children and providing support in areas of monitoring and
evaluation (M&E)”. CODE and FlexiSAF Foundation partnership will bring about the reduction
in percentage of out-of-school children and create a sustainable environment
for children to study and explore their creativity.
Amina
Abubakar, Coordinator FlexiSAF Education stated that there is a lot of work to
be done in ensuring the Nigerian child goes to school. She called on the
Federal and State Governments, Civil Societies, as well as stakeholders in the
Education System, especially the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to
commit to securing the education of the Nigerian child.
“As countries
strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) that addresses
attaining universal primary and secondary education by 2030, this is a wake-up
call for the Nigerian government to make educating the nation’s future leaders
a priority. We should begin to think up sustainable initiatives to resolve the
challenging factors facing out-of-school children,” Amina added.
She also
mentioned that to reach the large number of out-of-school kids, we have a long
way to go. The effort required is massive, not just for FlexiSAF Foundation and
CODE, but for Nigeria as a whole and the world at large. “It’s not enough to
just acknowledge the problem, but a swift and effective course of action 1must
be embarked upon. That is what we have began, and we are committed to staying
on this course for the long haul.”
FlexiSAF
Managing Director, Faiz Bashir stated that change can begin at the grassroots
whereby learning opportunities start with community-based education and
organising classes in community buildings so children do not have to walk
miles and miles to go to school. This is
especially critical for girls, as it reduces insecurity such as harassment and
conflict related incidents, on the way to school. FlexiSAF Foundation has, in
its effort to reach the SDG 4 target, adopted such flexible methods of teaching
out-of-school kids. These include Safe Spaces within their communities, full
scholarships to qualitative schools, one-on-one mentorship and counselling and
so forth.
He added that the partnership between CODE and
FlexiSAF Foundation aims to identify and target regions with disproportionately
high rates of out of school children, including working with leaders and other
groups to advocate for increased education, especially for girls. It will also
ensure safe and conducive learning that meets basic security and health
standards, including toilets and safe drinking water.
Detailed
plans to implement this partnership will be developed by the two organizations
in the coming months.
According to the United Nations, out-of-school children are children who are yet to be
enrolled in any formal education excluding pre-primary education.
