Heartland Alliance celebrates 10 years of ‘giving hope to the hopeless’

The Heartland Alliance International Nigeria (HAI), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), says it has in the last 10 years been championed the cause of marginalized, vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations across Nigeria.

HAI interventions are aimed at mitigating the physiological, psychosocial and economic impact of living with HIV/AIDS and, the injustices and abuses suffered by this groups.

Bartholomew Ochonye, HAI country director, in a statement said the decade-old work “has been undertaken through a strategic approach of targeted education, advocacy, capacity building, economic empowerment, HIV treatment and prevention and, the protection of the human rights of vulnerable and marginalized individuals.”

The statement added that the group held an open house event “to showcase the successes recorded, best practices adopted and lessons learned from the incredible work that has been done in the process of providing access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support to these key populations in Nigeria, and the partnership forged with various community based organizations (CBOs)”

“It had in attendance several development partners and members of the diplomatic corps including David Young (United States Embassy), Chelsea Buurman (Netherlands Embassy), Stephen Haykin (USAID), Onyinye Ndubuisi (UNDP), Amee Schwitters (CDC) and Erasmus Morah (UNAIDS) among others. Government representatives were also present including Felicia Obembe (Nigerian Police), Victor Olaore Omoshehin (NEPWHAN), Drs Inyang Asibong and Daniel Iya Commissioners of Health of Cross River and Nasarawa respectively,” the statement read.

“Also, present were Dr. Golden Owhondi from Rivers state Ministry of Health, Dr.Nkereuwem Etok, Dr.Rose Inyambi, Dr. Fisher Oladipupo, Dr. G.M Dura, Dr Francis Naazigar, Dr Umar Zachary from the Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Lagos, Benue Rivers and Nasarawa SACAs.

“To be sure, in the 10 years of working in Nigeria, HAI has implemented programs in different states across the six geopolitical zones of the country: Akwa Ibom, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Enugu, FCT, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, and Rivers.

“Currently the “Integrated Most at Risk Populations HIV Prevention Program” (IMHIPP) funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID -2009-2018) is under implementation.

“Other projects include the “Enhancing Key Population Intervention in Nigeria” funded by the Society for Family Health (SFH) in 2014, the Innovative Grant on sexual reproductive health and rights (2014), DFID funded Voices for Change (V4C) in 2014 and the NACA and the West Africa Infectious Diseases Institute (WAIDI) operational research grant in 2015.”

Ochonye added that in 2017, HAI partnered with the US department of state’s office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons (DOS/JTIP) and Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to conduct trainings on trafficking in persons and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS).

The training, he said, were for service providers and survivors of trafficking within the ongoing Lake Chad Basin insurgency crisis affecting Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

Stakeholders present at the event expressed their appreciation for the landmark achieved by HAI in a decade, especially in grooming and funding local organizations who has acquired needed skills to impact their communities positively, and, particularly for saving lives.

Joy Davison, a programme beneficiary, said ‘HAI should also be known as GHH – giving hope to the hopeless’.

HAI is the global arm of Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, a family of organizations that have been leading anti-poverty and social justice work in Chicago, USA for more than 129 years.