NGO to unveil welfare programme for Lagosians with special needs

The Social Welfare Integrated Program Initiative (SWIPI) has announced plans to launch a programme aimed at improving the welfare of vulnerable people in Lagos.

Speaking on Tuesday at a media briefing, Kolawole Ajayi, chairman of SWIPI, said the programme, which will be launched on Thursday, will also focus on providing interventions to support persons with special needs in Lagos.

He said the programme is intended to bridge the gaps in social welfare and assist orphanages, elderly care homes, children with special needs, and the mentally challenged in the areas of infrastructure, healthcare, education, and nutrition.

“The plight of the most vulnerable in society is a collective responsibility that falls on every global citizen,” he said.

“SWIPI has stepped in to fill some of the gaps that are prevalent in the care and management of vulnerable people in our society.

“We have taken steps to meet these needs by paying visits to all care homes in Lagos with an emphasis on orphanages, elderly care homes, children with special needs, and the mentally-challenged to identify needs and proffer adequate solutions to them.

“Some of the gaps noticed mostly were in infrastructure, medical, education, nutrition, and training needs.

“As an example, we have delivered a training curriculum, using world-class facilitators and the feedback has improved knowledge and delivery of care by the caregivers in the homes.”

Ajayi said the group has visited and identified needs of 64 orphanages in the state, and taken steps to address the gaps.

“Talking about the infrastructural gaps, there are places we went to that lacked good source of water and toilet facilities. SWIPI had to dig boreholes and also provided water treatment plants for them,” he said.    

“There are some homes without toilets and some with bathrooms serving both boys and girls without separation. 

“Children have grown to the point that we need to make things the way they should be and the point is that the government cannot do everything all alone. We have to intervene and this is one of the objectives of SWIPI.

“What we are doing is to identify them, link them up with orphanages with expertise to care for them, and then commence some kind of management.”

Ijeoma Ejiofor, a member of the team, said the objective of the group is to improve the quality of social welfare administration in the state. 

“We have given tablets and computers to all the welfare homes in Lagos. We have trained caregivers in all registered homes and also provided feedback mechanisms to get information on time from the caregivers, thereby helping to improve tremendously on the quality and value of care to the underprivileged in the society,” she said.

On her part, Valerie Ekperigin, another member of the group, said SWIPI is working with state agencies and seeks more support from concerned stakeholders.

“SWIPI’s long-term sustainability can be achieved by collaborations and partnerships in terms of technical, financial and otherwise,” she said. 

“We hope that with the SWIPI launch, we are able to gain more visibility and garner partners to achieve all the goals that SWIPI aspires to attain.”