MTNF Partners Against Malaria and AIDS in the Community

Apart from addressing issues relating to the OVC, Ugboma stated that for the past five years, the Foundation’s partnership with HWWN has also led to MTNF Partners Against Malaria and AIDS in the Community(PAMAC) Project which has created HIV/AIDS awareness, provided six voluntary counseling and testing centres in six states, one each in the six geo-political zones in the country.

An analysis carried out in 2008 put children under this category at 17.5 million and this predicts a catastrophe for the future of Nigeria as more than half of Nigeria’s population is less than 40 years of age."

He further stated that this Great HOPE Walk is a call not just to protest the plight of the OVC in Nigeria but to look within our neighbourhood and pay attention to the children who fall under this category.

"It is a clarion call to be more sensitive to the needs of these children in our society and to help and support them however we can because if this condition continues to plague our society, the Nigerian economy and the Nigerian state as a whole will suffer the dire consequences," he added.

Also speaking, Kayode Owolabi of HWWN said this year’s agenda is a celebration of children who have benefitted from this programme and whose lives are better as a result of some initiatives such as this. It is also a celebration of HOPE’s successful partnerships with MTN, Coca-Cola and other such sponsors who have decided to positively impact their communities and societies.

"There is still a huge need out there. Our database has a total of just 8,660 children who are beneficiaries of HOPE Worldwide Nigeria’s initiatives. Each of them has a service number and they span 11 states of the federation. The services rendered to them include nutritional, educational and health, protection and enabling an issuance of birth certificates for those without."

HOPE Worldwide Nigeria has received USAID Green award which means that the activities of the organisation are clearly achieving stated objectives. It is also in recognition of the availability of necessary tools put in place to achieve result and most especially the presence of a good management system. Also in collaboration with MTN Foundation, HWWN provided 1,096 babies born to HIV-positive mothers with baby formula on a continuous basis of twice a week for a period of nine months.

This collaboration also has committed N63m in the last three years to provide replacement feeding for babies born to HIV-positive mothers who cannot breastfeed their babies to avoid transferring the virus to their children.

The walk also had in attendance other important dignitaries. Mrs. Irene Ubah, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Director, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Mr. Julius Ameh represented the Minister of Education, Prof. Rukkayat Ahmed; Emmanuel Attah represented Chief (Mrs) Oluremi Tinubu and Dr. Emmanuel Al-Hassan represented Prof. John Idoko, the Director-General of National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).

The walk is also the culmination of community awareness creation that the organisation undertake at the end of every year which is aimed at supporting development, adaptation and review of policies toward improved quality of life for the children while also encouraging the affected children to aspire to be fulfilled individuals in life.

Other sponsors of the walk included National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Lagos State AIDS Agency, Nestle and Mr. Biggs.