The NEPWHAN’s National Secretary, Mr. Nicholas Ugbenyen represented NEPWHAN at the international workshop organized by Civil Society Institute for Health in West and Central Africa in Dakar, Senegal. The meeting had representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) drawn from West Central Africa (CWA).
The three-day event, from 17th -19th September 2024, aimed to strengthen the understanding of the CSOs in identifying best practices and challenges associated with localization of community health initiatives, applying localization principles to promote a more robust and appropriate funding environment to support mobilization of alternative resources through sustainable partnerships among CSOs, the private sector and philanthropic actors towards improving local ownership and sustainability of #The Global Fund investments of the CSOs involved in health programmes in WCA, and reduce dependence on external aid.
At the meeting, Mr. Nicholas facilitated a session on the three elements of localization, made a presentation on behalf of Team Nigeria on how Nigerian CSOs could adapt principles of localization to transition from localization to sustainability, and what more could be done by The Global Fund to further strengthen the CSOs to sustain The Global Fund investments, when external aid stops. NEPWHAN also made a presentation and showcased key achievements using iMonitor App to implement a digitized community led monitoring (CLM) program, to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of health services in the communities.
As a key outcome of the meeting, the CSOs developed a communique to guide future actions to accelerate localization in WCA region, drive sustainability, and ensure equitable access to health care in the region beyond 2030.
