Eight organisations get USAID’s N1.72bn to fight cholera in Lagos

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Lagos Urban Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (LUWASH) initiative, has awarded grants worth N1.72 billion to eight local organisations for interventions against cholera outbreak.

The organisations are JAM Foundation, Equitable Health Access Initiative Nigeria, South Saharan Social Development Organisation, Humanity Family Foundation for Peace and Development.

Others are Women’s Right to Education Programme, Bread of Life Development Foundation, Society for Water and Sanitation, and Chamagne Foundation.

The beneficiaries received the grants on Monday at the opening of a two-day signing and onboarding workshop in Lagos.

The grants were awarded under the capacity building, research, and advocacy fund (CAREVO Fund) to enhance the operational and outreach capacity of community-based organisations (CBOs) that provide WASH services, with a focus on communities underserved by public utilities.

James Racicot, chief of party and USAID contractor for LUWASH, said the initiative aims to reduce cholera transmission, morbidity, and mortality rates in Lagos state.

Racicot added that the programme would promote behavioural change to prevent communicable diseases and improve WASH facilities in low-income communities.

“We have no doubt that all of you will succeed with the proposals that you have submitted,” NAN quoted him to have told the grantees.

He noted that the grantees were selected to help achieve the overall outputs and objectives of the LUWASH activity.

“So, we urge you, the grantees to take advantage of all the training and orientation that you will receive, because ultimately, we do not want to have issues with the management of the grants, but rather focus on the implementation and the success,” he said.

“The LUWASH activity is very serious about engaging prominent, enthusiastic CBOs in Lagos and Nigeria, and we plan to do that over the next few years as well.

“The expectations for these organisations will feed into the LUWASH overall objectives of eradicating cholera outbreak in Lagos state.

“So, the USAID LUWASH activity has several components, including working on the infrastructure for the water supply, governance, and support to the institutional stakeholders.

“But through the grants under contract programme, called the CAREVO fund, we are able to target specific needs that we have either seen recently or that has been on the ground for a few years.”

Mimidoo Achakpa of the Women’s Right to Education Programme, said her organisation would embark on increased advocacy to combat cholera outbreak with the grant.

“Basically, we are going to be working for different governments, meeting with the critical stakeholders, also building capacity and trainings and seminars to forestall cholera outbreaks,” Achakpa said.

“So, our basic message would be that let us work together to achieve the goal of LUWASH. We continuously engage the communities we are working with.

“We will leave no one behind in the advocacy and we believe we will be able to attain the objectives of the programme.”