CSOs Clusters Advocates Safe Schools Project Domestication
By Khalid Idris Doya
A media meeting/roundtable on enhancing safe and secure education for all, with the goal of enhancing basic, inclusive and safe quality education in the Northeast through advocacy for increased investments in education was Monday opened in Bauchi.
The Enhancing Safe and Secure Education for All Project supported by USAID and Palladium which is for three focal states of Bauchi, Borno and Yobe is to be implemented by seven cluster organizations being anchored by Young Leaders Network.
Speaking at the occasion, Noadiah Babas communications and knowledge officer of Young Leaders Network said that the project objectives included pushing for the domestication and implementation of the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-free Schools (NPSSVS) in the three focal states.
It is also to advocate for increased budgetary releases and performance in education for infrastructure and training on school safety and disaster risk reduction (DRR) by 2025.
Noadiah Babas explained that the project will train on capacity enhancement/development which is cardinal to achieving its goal of increased basic, accessible, equitable and protective quality education in the Northeast.
She said that the project will in addition strategically build relationships with education and PFM stakeholders in the project states and create opportunities for decision makers to learn and engage round the adoption and implementation of NPSSVS.
The training will also leverage on learning and awareness raising policy engagement by creating platforms to empower citizens to know the NPSSVS, empower them to be involved in implementation of the policy and build ownership of the policy implementation.
Babas gave the seven cluster organizations as Leadtots Development Initiative, Bauchi; Bauchi state Network of CSOs; Thamani for Women and Youth Development Initiative, Bauchi; Innovative Childcare and Women Empowerment Initiative, Borno; Northeast Youth Initiative for Development (NEYIF), Yobe; Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Yobe; and Bauchi State NUJ Council.
Also speaking, the meeting/roundtable host state, and Chairman of the Bauchi NUJ, Comrade Umar Saidu said that the partnership is all out to reach the critical stakeholders on the issue at stake, revealing that Borno has already implemented the project, Yobe is in good progress while Bauchi is in process or pipeline of adoption.
Comrade Umar Saidu who described the meeting as open where each and every participant will contribute, however stressed the need for reaching out to the various media representations in the state, especially the electronic media.
Bauchi State Network for Civil Society Organizations (BASNEC) led by its chairman, Jinjiri Garba noted that the media is the critical partner in progress, without which the CSOs will be going nowhere in the advocacy drive.
Mr. Jinjiri Garba explained that the meeting took cognisance of the key role the media will be playing as, according to him, most students doesn’t go to school because of the safety, and even parents or everybody is concerned about the safety.