Stakeholders at the Biannual Media Round-table Meeting under GF RSSH/C19RM Grants, have unanimously thrown their weight behind the engagement of media in all Network of People Living With HIV and Aids on Nigeria (NEPWHAN), to help promote their intervention work in communities.
This position came during the round table discussion session of the meeting organised by NEPWHAN at the Green Valley Suites Jos, the Plateau State capital recently, where stakeholders were drawn from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as local government areas, to proffer solutions to challenges being faced.
Earlier, while declaring the meeting open, the State Programme Officer (SPO), Mohammed Umar, disclosed that the project started during the COVID-19 pandemic. And that the five covering intervention local government areas were: Langtang-North; Bassa; Jos-South; Mangu and Jos-North respectively.
On his part, the State Director, Public Health of the Plateau State Ministry of Health, Dr. Bunah Mafwala, represented by the State Vocal Person, Non communicable Diseases, Agwom A. Izang, commended NEPWHAN for the wonderful work they were doing in communities. He promised to partner with them to see to the sustainability of the projects.
Also, the District Head of Tudun-Wada, HRH Nyam Peter, expressed happiness that such projects were coming at the time when they were needed most. He appealed to the organisers of the meeting to engage or invite more traditional rulers next when such important meetings were held so that more awareness would be carried out.
However, stakeholders like Nanmak D. Bali, of Langtang-North LGA, Pastor Julius Arabo, Director of Audit of Plateau Aids Control Agency (PLACA), Mr. Pomak Michael Zacharia, the Publicity Secretary of Jama’tu Nasril Islam, Jos-North Branch, Umar Farouk Musa, and many others unanimously suggested the need for effective engagement of the media in all their projects.
They also called on the organisation to, as a matter of importance create a Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Unit that would help in assessing their achievements and a social media blog in collaboration with the media to help attract spirited individuals who would want to support their project.
