STATE2STATE Ends 2nd Quarterly Engagement Meeting In Uyo

UYO
In line with its vision of strengthening government systems with a focus on Public Financial Management (PFM), procurement, monitoring and evaluation with respect to the delivery of services in the key sectors of basic education, primary health care and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), State2State held its 2nd Quarterly Engagement Meeting for year 2024 with Desk/Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) officers in Akwa Ibom Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The meeting, which took place at Rosmohr Hotels, Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo, commenced with the facilitator Munachiso Odulana, Citizen Engagement and Capacity Building specialist, setting the tone with the following objectives: to review progress on activities implemented in the last quarter across various MDAs in the state; identify challenges, successes, and develop plans for improvement, to share experiences, best practices and lessons learned among the Desk/ GESI Officers and to improve report writing skills of Desk/GESI reports.
Others were to ensure sustainability of the Desk and GESIofficers coordination platform as well as to strengthen GESI responsiveness in the governance processes in Akwa Ibom.
In his opening remarks, the State2Stateteam lead in Akwa Ibom, BorvePaagoImabel, who was represented by Dr Iboro Nelson, highlighted the importance of the State2Statedesk officers’ quarterly engagement meeting and stressed the need for collaboration with all MDAs as well as identify structures within the MDAs that can support the Desk/GESIofficers platform in view of the fact that the programme (State2State) will end by August 2025.
The quarterly engagement meeting also featured discussions led by Ejiro Okotie, a GESIspecialist, on the strategies for institutionalisation of the State Desk/GESIofficers platform after the exit of State2State as well as an interaction on conflict mitigation and analysis of conflict issues that arose in April 2024, in the state, handled by Mr Cosmos Dinee, a conflict specialist.
In addition, MDAs were advised to set up a conflict mitigation committee or have a conflict focal person to mediate conflict in order to enhance effective and efficient service delivery.
The meeting featured presentation of progress reports by Desk/GESI Officers of the various MDAs, including Ministries of Information, Economic Development, Finance, Education, Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Health, Water Resources and Sanitation. Others included Akwa Ibom Bureau of Public Procurement, Akwa Rural Water and Sanitation (AK-RUWATSAN), Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution, among others.