This was made know in a statement made available to The PUNCH on Monday by the Communications Lead, Nigeria Network of NGOs, Oyindamola Aramide.
The statement read partly, “To promote accountability, transparency, and legitimacy for civil society, and the media on the Civil Society Public Directory and Management Information System (MIS), platforms being developed to capture and provide information on the operations of civil society organisations in Nigeria while strengthening the capacity of civil society to engage citizens to influence the Government of Nigeria in key development reforms at all levels.
“The platforms were developed as part of activities under the project Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagements (SCALE) supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and aim to create a system that allows for civil society growth through ensuring visibility, self-regulation, learning, and experience sharing among the different levels within the civil society community.”
The Executive Director, Nigeria Network of NGOs, Oyebisi, B. Oluseyi, said the platforms would aid capacity strengthening and growth for Nigerian CSOs
“Regulations are delicate but remain very important for the development of any sector and so we have taken the initiative to create tools, platforms and systems that aid not only statutory regulatory compliance but also self-regulation while paying attention to capacity strengthening and growth for Nigerian CSOs using technology. I must say, we are excited to be at the centre of this huge development in the history of the Nigerian third sector.
“Following about 6 regional consultations to conceptualise the platform’s design, we are again deepening the consultation today, moving from conception to practice in ways that ensures we can define user experience for the MIS and Public Directory through learning, collaboration, and consultation,” Oyebisi added.
According to the statement, the next few months would feature engagements with CSOs across the country to encourage subscription to the platforms which had been designed in a way that allows information provided to be verified using algorithms supported by Artificial Intelligence.
It is also accessible to people living with disability and organisations in hard-to-reach areas while ensuring that organisations have access to tools to develop their capacities across a range of areas.
“Ultimately, the platforms will be useful to government, regulators, development partners, donors and CSO themselves in identifying Nigerian CSOs, their activities, partners, promote collaboration, good governance, capacity development and inspiring confidence and trust in the activities of civil society organisations,” the statement added.
