SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria says it has reached approximately 650 households in Edo State through a three-year development intervention, as it prepares to build on the gains with a new project focused on strengthening the resilience of children, young people, families and communities.
Eghosa Erhumwunse, Country Director of SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, disclosed this during a stakeholder engagement in Benin City to review the achievements of the outgoing project and consolidate its impact in partnership with the Edo State Government, community leaders, development partners and beneficiaries.
Erhumwunse said the intervention prioritised vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations, particularly families and children often excluded from mainstream development programmes, while strengthening the capacity of communities to support their welfare and long-term development.
He said the project covered 400 households in its first phase and another 250 in the second phase, bringing the total to approximately 650 households. Based on an estimated average of four persons per household, the intervention potentially reached about 2,600 people.
The country director said the organisation considered community ownership essential to the sustainability of development interventions, stressing that families and communities must be empowered to maintain the gains made after a project ends.
He explained that the completion of the three-year programme would not signal the end of the organisation’s activities in Edo, as it was preparing to introduce a new initiative, Seed of Change, to address broader challenges affecting children, young people, families and their communities.
According to him, the new project, also supported by the German government, would build on previous interventions by strengthening resilience and promoting systemic changes that can sustain development outcomes beyond the period of donor funding.
Erhumwunse described the organisation as an implementing partner that facilitates collaboration between the donor and communities in Edo, noting that the progress recorded depended on the collective contributions of government institutions, community leaders, families, young people and other development partners.
Joy Irenonsen Ihensekhien, Permanent Secretary of the Edo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, who represented the commissioner, Eugenia Abdallah, commended SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria for its partnership with the state government and its support for vulnerable women, children and communities.
Ihensekhien said the ministry contributed to the programme through manpower, training facilities and other forms of support for capacity-building activities designed to empower beneficiaries and improve their ability to become self-reliant.
She expressed the state government’s appreciation for the collaboration, noting that partnerships between public institutions and development organisations remained important in helping vulnerable households cope with prevailing economic pressures.