On Tuesday, 13th August 2024, the delegation of ASATTAHIR International Foundation led by the Founder and Chairman Board of Trustees, Aliyu Sidi Attahiru, participated in the round table discussion hosted by the Nigeria INGO Forum in Sokoto state.
The Founder ASATTAHIR International Foundation (AIF), Aliyu Sidi Attahiru commended the organizers of the dialogue for their foresight and investments towards building bridges across and among critical stakeholders in development assistance, aid and humanitarian activities in Sokoto state.
Honorable commissioner for Innovation and Digital Economy Sokoto state, Hon. Bashar Umar kwabo, who represented His Excellency the Deputy Governor of Sokoto state, Alhaji Idris Muhammad Gobir conveyed his goodwill to all partners in the state for their efforts and commitment in complementing the efforts of the government in humanitarian and various development support and assistance.
He assured the forum of the state government’s determination to continue to create enabling environment to all partners, as it welcome interventions and partners in championing the cause of humanity.
The Deputy Director of the Nigeria INGO Forum (NIF), Musa Baba delivered a keynote address on ‘effective collaborations and coordination’ where he highlighted the enormous achievements recorded so far in the state and the gaps that need to be addressed.
As part of the challenges, he highlighted that absence of centralized information and database, inconsistent coordination meetings and multiple regulatory frameworks as some of the major challenges undermining efforts towards effective aid delivery in the state.
While giving the overview of existing collaborations and success stories, the Head of Programs and Research, ASATTAHIR International Foundation (AIF), Mr Rufus Yagkong acknowledged the tremendous support and cooperation AIF receives from Sokoto state government and its MDAs. He noted that AIF with funding from ECHO and in partnership with Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has distributed NFIs and shelter rehabilitation kits to nearly 20,000 IDPs in Sokoto state and has also reached 31,200 less privileged through its routine feeding program in 2024. These successes, wouldn’t have been achieved without the support and cooperation of the line ministries in the state.
Similarly, AIF’s Executive Secretary Prof. Yahaya Tanko Baba while highlighting some of the efforts of the Foundation that triggered support from donor organizations, also called for a structured and sustainable coordination among the stakeholders in the state for effective aid delivery.
Other partners such as representatives of various MDAs as well as national and multinational organizations like COOPI, Action Against Hunger, UNFPA, GISCOR and other partners gave updates on their ongoing efforts and made valuable inputs stressing the importance of collaboration and coordination in the state.
The activity also featured an interactive session on strengthening collaboration and coordination among partners where information/data sharing, capacity building were identified to be very important factors for progress as they help to avoid duplication of interventions in a given location.
In his closing remarks, the Deputy Director INGOs Forum, Musa Baba thanked the Deputy Governor and representatives of various MDAs in the state for attending the dialogue and urged them to do more in strengthening coordination in the state. He also thanked all development partners for their valuable inputs during the activity.
