ENHANSE Trains Journalists On HIV/AIDS Budget Monitoring And Experience.

In its continuous effort towards building the capacity of journalists, ENHANSE project has organized a training workshop for print journalists covering health related issues.

The training which centered on HIV/AIDS budget tracking, held at INTERNEWS office, Abuja, between August 27 and September 1, 2007.

It was aimed at providing the journalists with skills for monitoring HIV/AIDS budgets, tracking and expenditure. The workshop was also to enable journalists present budget issues in a manner that would be reader friendly and understandable by the people.

It was also to use stories published by the journalists after the workshop to educate policy makers on the needs and expectations of people effected and affected by HIV.

Experts in budget took the participants through pre-test on HIV/AIDS budget in nigeria as well as government’s HIV/AIDS budget and expenditure. Participants were also taught the necessary techniques for interviewing guests and to prepare guests and participants for guest presentation. The lecture on civic journalism enabled participants to make presentations and discuss their experiences on the subject.

In one of the lead papers on budget monitoring in Nigeria, Bimbo Adewumi, Advocacy Adviser, Journalists Against-Aids, (JAAIDS) stressed that budget must serve the need of the people. She pointed out that ideal budget systems must include the system which dictates how resources are allocated, recorded, monitored and accounted for as well as the policy which in turn, describes the values and objectives by which such discussions are made and the desired effects, or budgetary outcomes.

She described budget analysis as a veritable instrument for resource-tracking. At the end of the workshop, some participants were delighted that the exercise had offered them the opportunity to appreciate the volume of money put into HIV programme. Other participants acknowledged that the workshop had exposed them to budget tracking thus, making it obvious for them to appreciate the enormous role of journalists in budget monitoring and expenditure.

Part of the closing ceremony was presentation of digital cameras to Messrs. Muanya Chukwuma of the Guardian newspaper, Lagos, Agaptus Anaele of Daily Sun, Lagos, and Justice Ama Kalu of Zuma FM for excellence and commitment to health related stories especially HIV/AIDS. They were urged to hold unto the spirit of hard work that stood them out among their colleagues.

Similarly, two journalists were given travel grants to work on different health related issues. Apeh David of Leadership newspapers received the grant to work on Nutrition policy focusing on home grown feeding

programme; while Palang Kasmi of Standard newspaper, Jos would work on maternal health.

The participants were presented with certificates and urged to keep in touch with INTERNEWS to share their experiences.

ENHANSE Holds Brainstorming Meetings For Its Year 4 Workplan

A cross section of participants at the meeting

The Year 4 country operational plan of the ENHANSE Project has been described as critical in the five–year (2004 – 2009) project that is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This assertion was regularly reiterated by the Chief of Party Dr. Jerome Mafeni at the Brainstorming Meetings on Year 4 Work Planning, which took place from June 14 to July 5, 2007 at the ENHANSE Conference Room.

He said it was critical because what had been accomplished in the last three years of operations was going to be matched against the contract the organisation signed with its funds providers. He also made it known that the organisation would be focusing on consolidation over initiation of new projects in the Year 4 Plan and urged the participants to come up with deliberations that will achieve this goal.

At the Brainstorming Meeting for Year 4 Workplan on Reproductive Health, held on Wednesday, July 3, 2007, Dr. Mafeni said the organisation sought to answer the question: What is the best option in the development of life for our people. To achieve this, he said the organisation seeks to reach a mutual consensus between the pro-lifers and pro-choice groups, for the betterment of our mothers and the survival of our children; and commended RH groups for been one of the best collaborators in the achievement of the ENHANSE mandate.

He also said that efforts have been made to leverage funds into child survival projects by the ENHANSE Project although much of the emphasis of the organisations' mandate is on HIV/AIDS at the Brainstorming Meeting for the Year 4 Workplan on Child Survival on Thursday, July 5. The objectives of the Child Survival meeting as outlined by the Senior Advisor Child Survival Dr. Goli Lamiri is to review the Year 3 Plans and activities; harmonise and increase synergy of partners' priorities with those of ENHANSE; share and understand the Year 4 vision and strategic objectives by creating and enabling policy environment and support for high quality and better health outcomes for child survival through interventions in malaria, nutrition, immunisation and other child health related areas.

Dr. M. Adewusi in the contributions of her department (HIV/AIDS) to child survival informed the participants that their focus is under the following groups: prenatal, intra-partum, early neonatal, neonatal, under 12 months and 1 – 12 years. She described their priority area to be in the area of prevention of mother to child transmission.

At the meetings, presentations were made by different members of the ENHANSE team. Dr. Tumala Mohammed in his lead presentation at the inaugural meeting took the participants who were drawn from the public, private and civil societies on how the organisation provides enabling environments to reduce impact of HIV/AIDS and TB in selected states in the country through forming and strengthening public – private and private – public partnerships, NGO networks or coalitions; capacity building; and improving and developing policies, plans and financial assistance.

Dr. M. Adewusi's presentation centred on ENHANSE priority activities of Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS prevention/other preventions, education, gender and orphans and vulnerable children. She listed agencies that have collaborations with ENHANSE to be, but not limited to NACA, NASCP, CDPA, NHRC, civil societies, private agencies, and Federal Ministries of Health, Education, Women Affairs and Social Development.

Other regular presentations at the meetings from the ENHANSE team who review the Year 3 Workplan for their departments and articulate what they tend to achieve in the Year 4 Workplan for participants to draw from include: Obasi Ogbonnaya the Data Use and Communication Specialist takes participants on his departments' scope of work which is creating demand for up-to-date usage for effective decision making and policy development; contributing effectively to advocacy and ensuring effective communication of the success stories of ENHANSE and its partners. This is through message guides, newsletters, USAID-it website, coordination meetings, advocacy and listserves.

For Imaga Idika the SA PPP (Social Sector) whose department is new in the ENHANSE Project, his section intends to make the corporate social responsibility program a success story in the country. He takes participants on how to use the “Direct Marketing Approach” to achieve results in public-private partnership by cooperating synergies that will leverage on the opportunities the public and private sectors offer to meet the needs of civil society in the provision of sustainable social sector services.

The activities of the CSO specialist Sam Orisasona is to strengthen the capacity and performance of multiplier CSO networks for improved participation in policy development and implementation of social sector programs. The department achieve this through collaboration with other partners to provide technical/financial support; monitoring and mentoring CSO networks whose members have gone through ENHANSE training; and training members of CSO networks on project/financial management, public sector budgeting and allocation system; and monitoring disbursement and utilisation as a tool for increased funding for public sector financing.

Josephine Kamara of ENHANSE/Internews in her presentation give participants an account on the activities of her organisation to include building capacity of news media institutions to produce high quality programs; improve use of the media by CSOs, bringing ‘ordinary’ people into the media arena; improving news media coverage of policy issues within the ENHANSE thematic areas; raising the level of public dialogue on health and social sector issues and the effective use of the media to champion behavioural change. To achieve this ENHANSE/Internews hold training for journalist on balanced and quality reportage of issues; roundtable discussions; radio links; technical assistance and workshops for CSOs on how to effectively communicate through the media. She stresses the need to involve the media at the planning stage of the activities/programs which is often overlooked.

The meetings drew a lot of reactions from participants who sought help from ENHANSE. One of them in RH, Pauline Aribisala of Federal Ministry of Health urged ENHANSE to start involving the state governments in the planning stage of its programs as they play an important role in the implementation and to fill the gaps noticed since health is in the concurrent list in Nigeria; and in capacity building to move from focal persons to organisations and units to ensure continuity. Other regular request includes: Supporting the development and implementation of policies and guidelines, capacity building, advocacy and passage of bills, and various cross cutting activities.

Responding on behalf of ENHANSE in one of the brainstorming meetings, Dr. Adewusi told the participants that while ENHANSE is looking forward to more collaboration to help improve its work; it prioritises and as such will not be able to carry out all their requests. On the requests that do not fall within the organisations' core areas, she promised that ENHANSE will linked them with other line ministries like the Futures Group, AED, Africare, and Pathfinder to achieve their goals.

1,500 Orphans and Vulnerable Children Supported in Year 3

      Five NGOs caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Cross River State received grants from the ENHANSE Project for their activities in the 2006 fiscal year, which ends in September 2007.
      Making the disclosure at this year’s edition of the annual work planning retreat of the Project held in July, Grants Manager, Mr. Joshua Samson said the organizations provided 1,448 orphans with education, health and psychosocial support while building the capacities of community members to respond appropriately to the needs of the orphans.
ENHANSE will continue funding for the five OVC NGOs in the 2008 Fiscal year while USAID thinks through a more permanent funding arrangement with other implementing partners (IPs) to take on the children’s care and support needs.
            The Grants component in Year 3 identified and supported six CSO networks with funds that should have been disbursed in Year 2. Contracts were signed with all the grantees—four networks focussing on Reproductive Health, and two that focus on Child Survival—last February.
            As a result of the Grants backlog, the Project will in Year 4, which commenced this September, disburse Year 3 and 4 Grants funds and try to bridge existing gaps as a result of unused grants. This also is subject to the availability of funds.
            Request for applications will be advertised this August following an experience sharing forum held for grantees last July.
            Samson explained that some of the gaps in the Grants program activities were as a result of occurrences, particularly political developments in the country, which slowed down the rate of implementation of activities by some grantees, particularly those in the North.
            In addition, the ENHANSE work plan was approved behind schedule, as a result of which activities could not start as scheduled.
            The objective of the ENHANSE Project’s Grants Program is a strengthening of the capacity and performance of key national institutions for policy development, planning, coordination and evaluation in respect of social sector and HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis programs.
            It therefore provides technical assistance to grantees to build and develop their management capacity, which it also monitors.

ENHANSE Trains Project Partners On Project And Financial Management

Some of the participants at the training session.

As part of the effort of ENHANSE Project aimed at building the skills and strengthening the capacity of its partners, a training workshop was recently organized in Abuja for Civil Society organisations and Faith Based organisations on HIV and AIDS, Basic Education, Child Survival, Reproductive Health and Population issues.

The week long workshop took place between 3rd and 8th September, 2007 and was designed and facilitated by management strategies for Africa (MSA) Abuja. The overall objective of the training was to strengthen the capacity of ENHANSE project partners to effectively and efficiently manage projects.

The training was a response to the needs of senior and middle level programme and finance staff responsible for project planning and management. It was therefore expected to reposition the partners to implement their projects and deliver quality services at the states and community levels, thereby contributing to greater effectiveness of ENHANSE project activities.

To achieve the desired set goals of the workshop, the course was structured into four plenary sessions daily, with small Working Group Sessions. Each day featured seven and half hours training thereby providing for 35 hours in all with topics introduced in plenary session. Lectures were equally designed to enhance understanding of key elements of project and financial management, improved skills in the application of sound management principles and concepts in project as well as financial management. The lectures were also designed to improve skills in building and managing effective teams for programme effectiveness as well as improve capacity for documentation, learning and dissemination of best practices.

Technical presentations focused on the thematic areas identified in the course curriculum and were made by experienced resource persons who had worked with donor organisations and had in the past, managed projects at different levels. The resource persons therefore, combined facilitation skills with technical knowledge in project development, financial management, monitoring and evaluation and project management.

The training workshop which was participatory, had in attendance, 25 participants from CSOs, FBO and others from different parts of the country. It offered participants the opportunity to work in small groups, brainstorm and share ideas and experiences amongst themselves and with their trainers.

USAID-it Website Leads ENHANSE Strategic Communication Tools

Close to 300,000 requests for information have been made on the ENHANSE-supported USAID-it website since it was created in the third year of the life of the five-year Project. The project begins Year 4 this September.

Making the disclosure at the 2007 retreat, preparatory to transition into Year 4, Data Use and Communication Specialist, Mr. Obasi Ogbonnaya said 280,011of the requests were successful while 13,415 failed as at 3.03 a.m. on March 1, 2007.

There were 194,082 successful requests for pages; an average of 767 successful website visits s per day, out of which there was an average of 531successful requests for pages per day, Mr. Ogbonnaya explained.

The website provides information on the activities, interventions and success stories of the ENHANSE Project and a number of other USAID Implementing partners. These include, Safe Blood for Africa Foundation, Making Medical Injections Safer, NetMark Africa, GHAIN, COMPASS,

Another hit with ENHANSE partners was Message Harmonization Guide (MHG), a tool with the objective of helping organizations to properly and more effectively codify their intervention and development communications.

MHG recipients included 15 Chief Health Educators from the Health Promotion and Education Divisions of 14 States’—Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, Jigawa, Taraba—and the FCT, as well as development sector organizations.

The recipients of MHG are known to have used it in different ways to achieve their objectives.

According to Ogbonnaya, the Society for Family Health (SFH) distributed it to their six zonal offices and the programs division of the head office with the aim of contributing to a greater improvement in community level programming, while the World Health Organization said it distributed copies to “relevant units.” 

The Network of Private Obstetrical Providers (NEPOP), Ministry of Health Niger State, used it to develop a presentation to medical practioners during Nigeria Medical Association’s Annual General Meeting in Edo State earlier this year.

Other recipients and users of the MHG are the Department of Community Development and Population Activities of the Federal Ministry of Health, which is using it for program and policy planning and implementation; Hope Worldwide Nigeria, who plan to use it in the development and production of BCC materials, and in the dissemination of information at community level and at Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centers.

National Malaria and Vector Control Division of the FMOH; the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs; National Population Commission; the Reading Association of Nigeria; Center for Development and Population Activities; and Action Health Incorporated also received MHG.

The National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) said MHG will be used by its program officers to facilitate NACA activities in the national response.

Also in the 2006/07 Project Year, the ENHANSE Project commenced the development of advocacy kits for Basic Education, HIV&AIDS, Reproductive Health, Child Survival & Gender issues.

This has resulted in the production of 11 draft position papers 11 Fact sheets and 40 Advocacy Briefs targeted at four different audience types, namely: Policy-makers, Legislators, the Media and Community/Religious/Traditional leaders.

In the 2007/08 Project Year the ENHANSE plans to bridge a number of communication and data use gaps and embark on new activities.

These include the development of a Country Strategy for Information Dissemination within and between Implementing Partners, all levels of government, and Civil Society Organizations, and Advocacy Kits for Christian Health Association of Nigeria.

The Project also intends to focus on Policy Champions to drive home public policy formulation and implementation requirements.

In collaboration with relevant program officers, through research and consultations, policy champions will be chosen and deployed to advocate the formulation and, or implementation of specific policies for the good of Nigerians.

The Data Use and Communication component of the ENHANSE Project creates demand for the use of relevant and up-to-date data and information for effective decision-making and policy development, and contributes to effective advocacy efforts by the media, policy champions, key stakeholders and partner organizations.

Year 4 Country Operational Plan Critical To Entire Project

The Year 4 country operational plan of the ENHANSE Project has been described as critical in the five–year (2004 – 2009) project that is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This assertion was made by the Chief of Party Dr. Jerome Mafeni at the HIV/AIDS Brainstorming Meeting on Year 4 Work Planning at the ENHANSE Conference Room on June 14, 2007.

He said it was critical because what had been accomplished in the last three years of operations was going to be matched against the contract the organisation signed with its funds providers. He also made it known that the organisation would be focusing on consolidation over initiation of new projects in the Year 4 Plan and urged the participants to come up with deliberations that will achieve this goal.

At the meeting, presentations were made by different members of the ENHANSE team. Dr. Tumala Mohammed in his lead presentation took the participants who were drawn from the public, private and civil societies on how the organisation provides enabling environments to reduce impact of HIV/AIDS and TB in selected states in the country through forming and strengthening public – private and private – public partnerships, NGO networks or coalitions; capacity building; and improving and developing policies, plans and financial assistance.

Dr. M. Adewusi's presentation centred on ENHANSE priority activities of Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS prevention/other preventions, education, gender and orphans and vulnerable children. She listed agencies that have collaborations with ENHANSE to be, but not limited to NACA, NASCP, CDPA, NHRC, civil societies, private agencies, and Federal Ministries of Health, Education, Women Affairs and Social Development. Josephine Kamara of ENHANSE/Internews in her presentation on other preventions gave participants an account on the activities of her organisation to include training, mentoring and equipping journalists on HIV/AIDS reportage and the effective use of the media to champion behavioural change.

Presentations were also made by Sam Orisasona on ENHANSE Network of CSOs by Thematic Areas; Public – Private Partnership Crosscutting Activities for Year 3 by Imaga Idika. Others were Fatima Shagari the Northern Nigeria Specialist and Obasi Ogbonnaya, the Data Use/Communications Specialist.

The participants were later divided into three groups: Prevention and Other Preventions, OVC and Gender, and Care and Support to hold discussions. At the end of the group sessions, they came out with the following core areas for intervention by ENHANSE: Supporting the development and implementation of policies and guidelines, capacity building, advocacy and passage of bills, and various cross cutting activities.

Responding on behalf of ENHANSE, Dr. Adewusi told the participants that while ENHANSE is looking forward to more collaboration to help improve its work; it prioritises and as such will not be able to carry out all their requests. On the requests that do not fall within the organisations' core areas, she promised that ENHANSE will linked them with partner agencies like the Futures Group, AED, Africare, and Pathfinder to achieve their goals.

Gender Equality and Equity Questions Raised at Advocacy Kits Preview

Two schools of thought have emerged on which of the global gender parity goals should be advocated in Nigeria.
Arguments arose in favour of and against equality and equity, two concepts frequently used in current gender advocacy and discussions, during preview sessions of a number of advocacy kits being developed by social sector partners under the auspices of the ENHANSE Project.
The kits contain documents to be used to press for increased commitment of political leaders and policy makers to address maternal deaths, adolescent health, family planning and child spacing issues in Nigeria.
The arguments arose as to whether equality or equity will best connote and be acceptable to the related gender issues to be advocated.
Some development partners present said equality of the sexes in access to offices, services and opportunities is the global target of the gender argument and that Nigeria cannot be an exception to the rule.
Other partners argued that equity is the ultimate, as it would ensure that everybody got their entitlements irrespective of sex, whereas equality would only ensure some form of unfairness in the sense that one sex might be deprived of what it is qualified to have.
“If women qualify to get 60 or 70 per cent of offices, opportunities and access, so be it,” one partner argued, pointing out that in one state in the United States, the five top political positions were once occupied by women.
Equality would not allow that situation because political positions would have to be shared equally, the argument added.
Some partners pointed out that the two concepts are related in the sense that equity is the process that is to lead to equality.
However, the consensus was that there are cultural connotations that might make some male political leaders oppose the idea of equality simply because Nigerians believe in male superiority, a belief that is said to be supported by culture and the two main religions—Christianity and Islam.
The Holy Bible says the man is the head of the family, while the Koran pointedly says man and woman are not equal, one participant pointed out
Under the initiative, three advocacy kits are being developed. They are on Maternal Deaths, Adolescent Health, and Family Planning/Child Spacing, explained Mr. Obasi Ogbonnaya, Data Use and Communication Specialist of the ENHANSE Project. It is planned that the kits will be ready by the end of September 2007.
The preview sessions, which were held on August 28 and 31, were a follow up to a retreat in September 2006 where the kits were developed. The objective was for the development partners to take another look at the documents with a view to amending them where necessary, and to decide how and where to take the documents for pre-test before they are printed and disseminated.
Explaining the reason for the development of the advocacy kits, ENHANSE Senior Program Officer for Reproductive Health, Mrs Charity Ibeawuchi, said the kits are being developed for the nation and are meant for the use of all organizations working to improve the issues they cover.
She said the development of the kits is underlined by the need to find ways to improve the nation’s poor performance in reproductive health, which is such that the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may be unachievable.
“MDG 5—75 per cent reduction of maternal mortality ratio from 1,000 in 1990 to 250 per 100,000 live births by 2015—is linked to the other MDGs,” Mrs. Ibeawuchi explained.
The other related MDGs include the reduction of deaths among newborn children and children below the age of 5 years which total about 1 million yearly.

Advocacy Kits Preview Concluded, Pre-test Gets Underway

 Following a preview of draft of advocacy kits on basic education on September 7, the ENHANSE Project officially closed the preview of 11 advocacy kits it is supporting to foster an enabling environment for social sector services in Nigeria.
Closely following the preview is the pre-testing of the kits, which Data Use and Communications Specialist, Obasi Ogbonnaya said had already begun.
The pre-testing of the documents, which is taking partners around the country, is to ensure that the kits are acceptable to the target audiences in terms of contents, outlook and presentation.
The exercise will also ensure that the documents are factually and politically correct, and take into account the gender, social and religious sensibilities that have in the past defeated some efforts to address health and social problems.
Prior to the pre-test, development partners, including development and donor organizations, and representatives of government agencies had attempted to correct all such flaws. The pre-test is an effort to ensure that nothing has been taken for granted.
Partners decided, for instance, that the national colours, national monuments and symbols would be more acceptable and less controversial than religious symbols. Perceived marginalization by unacceptable placement and use of symbols has been known to make religious adherents to reject well meaning interventions.
Partners also decided that photographs, rather than cartoons, drawings and paintings, would confer more seriousness on the effort to draw attention to the myriad of problems and issues the kits contain.
The kits are addressed particularly to policy makers and implementers, political leaders, religious leaders and the mass media. The kits draw attention to problems and gaps in HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC); Reproductive and Adolescent Health; Basic Education and Child Survival.
The ENHANSE Project is interested in improving such social sector issues through policy interventions and works through legislative, advocacy, grants, faith-based, and civil society-focused interventions.
Some of the issues addressed in the advocacy kits include the need to improve the handling of: