The Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) has announced the launch of a programme with a goal of strengthening the capacities of state civil society networks to be able to work effectively.

The programme, tagged, ‘Strengthening State Civil Society Networks/Coalitions to Harmonise Regulatory Frameworks at the Sub-National Level’, is funded by the European Union (EU) through the Agent for Citizen Transformation (ACT).

Development Diaries gathered that the programme will begin the process of creating appropriate, inclusive, and harmonised civil society regulations at the federal and state levels.

It is understood that issues tied to multiple registrations and overlapping regulations across national and state levels have been a source of concern for NGOs in Nigeria.

‘We are pleased that the EU-ACT programme has reached out to support a project like this that addresses gaps in the Nigerian civil society regulatory framework as it allows us the opportunity to push for regulations that help us do our work better’, the NNNGO Executive Director, Oluseyi Oyebisi, said in a statement.

The NNNGO, in partnership with subnational civil society networks across ten states, is implementing the programme.

‘It is pertinent to talk about the sub-national regulations in a country like Nigeria with a federal system of government and compare it with other countries in the world that run a federal system of government’, the statement quoted a representative from EU-ACT, Idem Udoekong, as saying.

‘There is a need to create awareness about the sub-national regulations, so people are informed of the laws guiding their activities at the local level’.

It is expected that by the end of the project cycle, a harmonised regulation would have been adopted or the process set in motion.

Source: Nigeria Network of NGOs

Source: Nigeria Network of NGOs