The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has reiterated commitment to a new level of partnership that will ensure that strategic objective of health for all citizens become realistic in Nigeria.
This was the outcome of the first day of a strategic review meeting between the management of the two bodies on pushing a collaboration centred on public enlightenment, education, community engagement and mobilisation.
In his speech,the Director General ,NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu who is leading the Agency’s team at the meeting used the opportunity to outline the reposition plan of the agency starting from the last four months. The plan is encapsulated in the agency’s CLHEEAN community project.
On the UNICEF partnership, the Director General said every organisation reserved the right to review its operation to meet with new realities especially in an environment of evolving technology. For him, the review of the collaboration with UNICEF is to achieve increased coordination, management and reporting.
The DG NOA acknowledged the great work done by the two organisations in the previous phases of the relationship, saying review meetings are required from time to time to assess strategies and adopt new methods for implementing the projects.
Regarding the new method for implementing programmes, Mallam Issa Onilu said the overaching template is the CLHEEAN community Project under which capacities will be built to ensure efficient delivery of responsibilities.
In his remarks,the UNICEF Chief of Social Behavioural Change, Joshi Kshitij said there was a need to strengthen the collaboration as the world continued to face new challenges in the health and environment sphere. He therefore appreciated the DG NOA and his team for making their platforms available for the UN agency to leverage on.
The strategic review meeting had in attendance NOA management team including 36 state Directors and FCT. UNICEF is led by Mr Kshitij Joshi, UNICEF’s Chief Social and Behavior Change Officer.
The engagements is centered around restructuring and repositioning of a new partnership model which will guide collaboration with all stakeholders.
The new model is fashioned around framework of CLHEEAN the over riding template for citizen engagement under the agency’s Renewed Hope programme.
