Founder of The WellBeing Foundation, Her Excellency, Mrs Toyin Saraki has called for the commitment of the Organised Private Sector in Nigeria for the improvement of the conditions of women and children in Nigeria
Speaking at the formal presentation of the United Nation’s Every Woman, Every Child Initiative in Nigeria at a breakfast meeting with partners and stakeholders in Lagos on Monday, Mrs Saraki, who has been appointed by the United Nations Foundation to lead the Initiative in Nigeria and Africa noted that private and public sector-partnerships remains the only option to produce a Nigerian-led, Nigerian-managed, Africa-focused, Africa-impact, Private sector-driven grant fund and impact investment profile to deliver on the Millennium Development Goals to our citizenry.
Mrs Saraki described the Every Woman Every Child Initiative as the bridge between private and public sectors efforts at fulfilling the United Nations aspirations for women and children of the world. According to her: “The private sector must revise its role in the development of the country, applying the already established foundations of information, efficiency and timeliness. It is only with your support that we can make this happen, and develop the vision into something larger than ourselves”.
She pointed out that she gladly agreed to champion this call to action for Every Woman, Every Child after her meeting with the UN Secretary General, Mr Ban ki-moon during his recent visit to Nigeria where he spoke passionately about the UN’s Global Strategy for Women’S and Children’s Health and his own personal target and goals.
Mrs Saraki said that having worked for the improved health of women and children through The Wellbeing Foundation in the decade, during which she has been privileged to raise a national alarm on the situation of women and children and the need for an integrated approach to the issues, she has identified the need for all stakeholders to come together and harness all their resources for greater impact.
She said: “we started as charity which was wholly self endowed, operating to the traditional form of making an impact- the “give as the need arises” approach. However I have seen clearly that while charitable giving is passion-driven, a well meaning and essential feature that saves lives, it is not enough to deliver lasting, sustainable change in preventing mortality from occurring in the first place and ensuring the wellbeing of our women.
“The Wellbeing Foundation is one of the very few organisations worldwide and perhaps the only one in Nigeria that takes an integrated approach to women’s and children’s health. We pursue programmes and solutions to the challenges of maternal, newborn and child health by addressing the different elements of health interventions.
“We have taken this integrated approach, with participatory development being the key factor determining success and sustainability of all our existing programmes. We have built a formidable network of individual community volunteers and partner organisations, cooperatives and community development associations, an effective army that is over 3000 people strong. We have taken this same approach in our social policy advocacy drives in working with Federal and State governments.
She thanked other partners like Friends of Africa (Africa Friends of the Global Fund), the TY Danjuma Foundation, and the Tony Elemelu Foundation for their active participation and support in moving Nigeria forward from local to global health.
Former Governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki congratulated his wife and Founder of the Wellbeing Foundation for this initiative. He noted that with the considering the various challenges faced by government at different levels in Nigeria, the only chance for the Every Woman, Every Child initiative to succeed remained with the collaboration of the private sector and encouraged more people in the private sector to invest in women and children.
In his address, founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr Tony Elumelu, praised Mrs Saraki and the Wellbeing Foundation for agreeing to champion the Every Woman, Every Child initiative. He charged other African entrepreneurs to support this initiative insisting that Africa needs more than aid and that Africans need to take initiatives to turn around the continent. He promised the constant support of his organisation.
Ms Thelma Ekiyor, Cheif Executive Officer and Executive Director of the TY Danjuma Foundation lauded the promotion of synergy between public and private sectors and promised the readiness of her organisation to partner others in tacking challenges of health, education and empowerment faced by Nigerians.
Yomi Owope
Director of Communications
WellBeing Foundation
http://wellbeingfoundationnig.org/media-center-press-releases/press-release/1330-toyin-saraki-musters-private-sector-support
