ࡱ> ?A>5@ !bjbj22 "2XX2222222F. . . . $R F"z z z z z z z z J"L"L"L"L"L"L"$#R%p"2z z p"22z z ".2z 2z J"J"|22 z n pJ". 'b !T"0"t ~&=)'$ FF2222)'2 z ` qz z z p"p"FFD FFNYSC ADVOCACY PROJECT ROAD MAP TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as we know is a body instituted for the development and empowerment of the youth. They have embarked on an advocacy project, which is a project in support of the overall agenda of the government towards sustainable development .The project seeks to catch young people and steer this group of impressionable Nigerians towards the right course of holistic national development. This is achievable through its pool of articulate, dynamic, highly skilled and patriotic youth that can be easily mobilized to reach all communities with the right information in the shortest possible time. The goal of this project is to inculcate in minds of young growing children ideas and values, which will bring back communal values, togetherness and self development through an all encompassing value re- orientation. The NYSC by this act has taken a giant step in the implementation of President Umar Musa Yaraduas 7- point agenda like every other vision professed by different past administration. The way forward is for every sector, state and local government to make the presidents 7- point agenda to become a reality. General Yusuf Bomoi has done well in integrating the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in its development programmes. It is not only meeting the needs of the grassroots but a road map to sustainable development in our country. The continuous and effective execution of the this project brings Nigeria closer to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. One may ask what is the relationship between the NYSC Advocacy Project and the MDGs?. The Millennium Development Goals came into existence in September, 2000 at the United Nations Summit in New York when 189 world leaders come together and signed an eight point agenda on how to help solve and eradicate development needs of many countries. These goals include the following: To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and women empowerment Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 7. Ensure environmental sustainability Develop a global partnership for development. These goals as earlier stated are meant to address the problems of developing and developed countries, if the countries will adhere to it. In Nigeria, NEEDS document is the first poverty reduction strategy paper with clearly defined set of achievable goals at national level. SEEDS and LEEDS have also been prepared for state and local government levels. In the NEEDS document, there is a plan to grow consumption by 2%, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 6% between 2004 and 2007, create seven million jobs, attain about 65% literacy level and increase safe access to drinking water. NEEDS is a mutually exclusive social charter. What is expected of each country is to look at its own most pressing developmental needs and map out strategies on how to solve them. Nigeria did its own survey and with wide consultation and various levels and came out with the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy(NEEDS).Basically, the strategies was geared towards 1.Reforming government and institutions 2.Growing the private sector 3.Implementing a social charter 4.Value re-orientation. However, the NEEDS document is to meet four major goals: 1. Wealth creation 2. Employment generation 3. Poverty reduction 4. Value re-orientation These four major goals can only be achieved through strong political will and sustained efforts according to Dr. Otive Igbuzor of the Action Aid International, Nigeria. In other words, the country has to change its initiative, implementation of policies and programmes to achieve the MDGs. Looking at the task ahead and the advocacy project by NYSC, one can clearly see that the leadership of NYSC is working towards a better Nigeria. The NYSC/MDGs Advocacy project commenced in September, 2006. It has trained over 9, 000 corps volunteers, who have in turns reached over 250,000 members of the NYSC community. Through this process over 14 million Nigerians have been sensitized on the MDGs and NEEDS. It has projected that by 2009 this awareness project would have enabled at least 25 Million Nigerians to become informed participants in the implementation process. However, Corps volunteers can function in the following ways: Work with farmers on sustainable agricultural programmes. Participate in peer to education concept, to enlighten people and communities on reproductive health care and environmental issues Educate community members on how they can become effective participants in contemporary issues such as enterprise development, skill development and Information, Communication and Technology and the use of internet. It is very apparent the NYSC /MDG Advocacy project has been an essential instrument to the transformation of several rural communities in Nigeria. We must also note that it is not an easy project to carry alone. Some recommendation can also be added to make the project more effective, such as: Better funding for NYSC/MDG advocacy Project Young people in agriculture programme Micro- credit financing Need to better community involvement MDG award for project on sustainable development Better Monitoring and Evaluation of the project Training of youth on Entrepreneurship development Reviving the NYSC agricultural programmes Provision of non- interest revolving loans for Corps Volunteers to execute small scale project. Encouragement of stakeholders to be actively involved in establishment of Skill acquisition centers for youth empowerment at grass root levels. Finally, the effort of the following persons must be applauded towards implementation of this project. The Senior Special Assistant to the president on MDGs Hajiya Amina Ibrahim; Director- General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Yusuf Bomoi; The Directors and the staff in Integrated Rural Development(IRD) of NYSC-DHQ; Facilitators and MDG Advocacy corps volunteers. In addition, development projects such as this needs to be emulated and replicated across the other tiers of government for development to be visible, attainable and sustainable. There is no doubt that the NYSC Advocacy project has come a long way in bringing succour to many impoverished communities in our country. It is indeed a road map to sustainable development By Dr. Charles Ejiofor, Development Knowledge Facilitator/Team Leader/NYSC Advocacy Project (MAP), Rivers State E-mail:drejiofor@yahoo.com ;Z[  F J K X n d t ) . ` n r  < = @      1 6 < r ˿ӻӻ÷ۯ۫ۿۧhehhYhh@mh:hGihS4hGIh6 h4u'hWh <h-VhbvhFhHhhHhehH5CJaJB; -D])*bu\gd//q $ & Fa$gd7m $h^ha$gd7m $ & Fa$gd7mgdWL! 78fnx!Nlm$'(*WXhab*+Z[be01lqw";ļļļļĸļļļhWDhehihbvhhGIhWLh2[4hmh//qh-Vh4u'hzhS4h[Lh5!hGihx4H;L|&:[\^nYc1FTclm h$/6WXYGYļļļ̸̸̼h$hHhhb[hDphS4hh*.hZhYelhI,h2/<h[Eh7mh[LhGihihWLhYhehWDB\Gm >hXY5!6!:!P!!!gdzgd:~gdDp<`<gdz^gdWL & Fgd7mh^hgd~ & Fgd7m 2 < = L [ v w 4!5!6!chb[h$hh *!!<`<gdz 1h/ =!"#$%@@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DAD Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No List2;-D]) * b u \Gm >hXY56:P00000 0 0 0 0 0 0@0 00000000000 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0p0 000000;-D]) * b u \Gm >hXY56:0000000000 00 00 00 00 00 0000 0000000000000000000000 00 000000 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0 0 0 M90OCACY PROM90M90M90 ;!\!!!$1|$1R!$1 $1̖$1$1$1t$1$1 $14_$1$1$1 #$1$1d$1 p p [[ee}}     w w  bbll  9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplaceB*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagscountry-region9 *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsState=*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags PlaceType   3-]b u nG>gUSER@z2<@!. 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