The TY Danjuma Foundation (TYDF) says it plans to spend over N2billion in its 2023-2028 strategic plan.
The Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Mr Gima Forje, said this at a meeting with partners in Abuja.
Forje said that the foundation had been working with partners for the past 15 years making positive impact in the lives of Nigerians across the country.
‘‘The foundation’s strategic plan for 2023-2028 is focused on maternal and child health, access to quality education, preventable blindness, free medical missions and humanitarian supports.
He said that the foundation had added new elements to its thematic focus which included research and documentation in the areas of health, education, and humanitarian assistance, as well as research around issues of contents to the foundation and public interest.
“The final component to this is that we are going back to something which we experimented in the past, which is capacity building for Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
“So, we want to work closely with a lot of NGOs to see how we can build their capacity in response to the needs of the society,” he said.
Forje added: “We are going to spend over N2billion with our partners in the 2023-2028 strategic plans, clearly we will surpass that.
“There are a lot of projects the foundation is engaged with that involve massive construction especially hospitals that have to deal with maternal and child health.
“An eye hospital in Takum, Plateau, another maternal and child health hospital in Benin and another one in Enugu State.
“So when you look at the larger picture, we are going to double or triple the amount which the foundation is projecting initially.’’
Forje said the meeting was to come together and identify existing challenges and chart a way forward to consolidate the work of foundation which had spanned over 15 years.
He said that in the past, the foundation used to organise practical trainings for its local partners for them to understand the essence of the foundation, the expectations of them, how they should engage with government and the community.
“Now we have evolved and what we are doing now is to consolidate on the works partners we’ve been doing over 15 years.
“We now bring government and partners around the table so that they can interface with each other. If they are obstacles, they identify them, and the government can advise on to overcome them.
“Then, we can now jointly work towards a common goal which is to make more impact on the lives of Nigerians,” he said.
Speaking, Dr Oteri Okolo, the National Coordinator of the National Eye Health Programme, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, stressed the need for NGOs and development partnership to key into government policies and programmes in their interventions.
Okolo also advised partners to ensure value for money when implementing their intervention programmes.
“Basically, our goal at the National Eye Health Programme is to ensure that resources coming into the country, to ensure that partners are well-utilized to ensure maximum impact on the citizenry.
“TYDF is one of our partners in eye health, and they work with their partners in states to bring interventions to the average Nigerian.
“As we emphasised in the meeting, this is not a resource-rich nation, no matter what people say. We need to ensure that we make effective and judicious use of the resources.
“One of the ways we highlighted in the meeting is to ensure that they work together with the government, aligning with government priorities, plans, and policies. Because you want to ensure that these resources are effectively utilised,’’ he said.
He added: “Another way to ensure that resources have a lasting impact is to ensure that whatever is implemented is sustainable.
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“The best way to ensure the sustainability of these interventions and their maximum value is to ensure that the government is involved in implementation at all levels. Ensure that everyone is carried along and working together, aligning with priorities.
“Those are the things we are looking to ensure happen between 2024 and 2028, especially in the eye health space.”
Dr Omosigho Izedonwmen, the Executive Secretary, Edo Primary Health Care Development Agency, commended the foundation’s intervention in various sectors of the economy.
Izedonwmen said that the foundation had demonstrated how individual capacities could contribute meaningfully to society through education, health, nutrition and other dimensions without necessarily holding presidential office.(NAN)
