Performance review retreat: Stakeholders commit to galvanise private sector investment in national HIV/AIDS response

Building on the mandate to harness private sector resources and deliver high-impact interventions to end HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, the HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria (HTFN) and Nigerian Business Coalition Against AIDS (NiBUCAA) held a three-day strategy session with its stakeholders and staff members to interact on strategic opportunities and highlight areas of possible collaboration to revolutionize the investment landscape in the HIV/AIDS response in Nigeria.

The event had in attendance the members of the Board Advisory Committee (BAC) of both organizations – Zouera Youssoufou (MD/CEO of the Aliko Dangote Foundation), Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan (Head Sustainability Access Bank) and Josephine Kalu (Director Resource Mobilization National Agency for the Control of AIDS – NACA).

Others are Kenechi Esomeju (General Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility Total Energies EP Nigeria Limited), Rachel Goldstein, the Director, HIV and Tuberculosis, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ope Abegunde (Deputy Director Resource Mobilization NACA) and the Chief Executive Officer of HTFN and NiBUCAA, Jekwu Ozoemene.

The Chief Executive Officer of HTFN and NiBUCAA, Jekwu Ozoemene, in his remarks, emphasized the importance of the review and strategy session as both organizations work to have a stronger future and synergize their activities to effectively implement the objectives for which they were set up.

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He appreciated the members of the Board Advisory Committee and the USAID Director for their commitments to lead the private sector response to HIV/AIDS through NiBUCAA and HTFN.

The USAID Director, Rachael Goldstein, gave an insight into the programmatic interventions of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Nigeria and expressed excitement about the objectives of the HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria on domestic resource mobilization to effectively fight HIV/AIDS in the country, especially to end mother to child transmission of HIV. 

Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, a member of the Board Advisory Committee for both organizations, delved through the evolving skill sets that the staff members should acquire in order to fit into the present-day workplace.

She emphasized the “need for the organizations’ employees to upskill and reskill their capabilities, to be relevant in the modern work environment and better positioned for global opportunities.

Josephine Kalu took the participants through the processes required to create a positive culture of performance management to promote value for money, while urging all stakeholders to focus on delivering results from all their activities.

In a remark, Zouera Youssoufou charged NiBUCAA and HTFN to develop relevant interventions and creatively engage the Nigerian private sector on funding opportunities for the HIV/AIDS response.

The HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria will improve efforts to ensure coverage of high-impact HIV interventions aimed at preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission, while closing the funding gap for HIV in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Business Coalition Against AIDS will continue to complement government efforts and mobilize private sector resources to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.