International Courant
Distinguished grassroots mobilizer and activist, Hamzat Lawal, has shared insights on constructing resilient nonprofits in Africa. Lawal shared the insights whereas responding to questions from hearth chat host Kalada Belema Meshack-Hart throughout the ongoing fifth African Ladies Summit in Nairobi, Kenya on Might 8, 2024.
Whereas talking at a session titled “Methods to Construct Resilient Nonprofits,” Lawal captivated the viewers along with his private experiences and insights on how he began the Observe The Cash motion, which is now operational in twelve African international locations. The Malala Fund Schooling campaigner, who can also be Chief Government of Linked Growth (CODE), stated: “In 2010, lead poisoning occurred in Zamfara State, north-west Nigeria. And on the time it was reported that greater than 400 kids had died on account of artisanal mining.
“In 2012, I struggled to get info and data about how the federal government was responding as a result of it had been declared a nationwide emergency on the time. I used to be 24 years previous then. So I went to the Ministry of Well being, the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of the Setting. And all of the officers stored asking me: ‘Who’re you? who despatched you? Why do you ask?”
”So I took a danger, I launched into a visit from Abuja to Gusau (capital of Zamfara), to Anka after which to Bagega which took me a complete of 18 hours. And once I bought there, I discovered that over 700 kids died, so it was underreported. Not a single cent of the hundreds of thousands of {dollars} accepted reached this group. That is why I began a marketing campaign with a hashtag. we began the Twitter hashtag marketing campaign. The title of the group is Bagega. So what we did was create a hashtag referred to as #SaveBagega.”
“We began with Twitter, and from there it went to Fb, and apparently, one thing that began on social media made its method to Al Jazeera, BBC, DW and CNN in lower than 48 hours. Inside 72 hours, the then-president responded and stated they’d seen our marketing campaign and now they’ve accepted the $5.3 million quantity.”
Reiterating the significance of social media as a catalyst for advocacy and model resilience, Lawal urged individuals to concentrate on the necessity for consistency in messaging and use of strategic hashtags. “This lets you understand how many individuals have seen your hashtags, what the impression is and the way many individuals are utilizing them. So while you write proposals, you may speak about your attain digitally,” he famous. He additionally acknowledged that digital storytelling and leveraging free on-line platforms are essential to amplify marginalized voices and maintain establishments accountable.
Addressing the pitfalls that nonprofits should navigate, Lawal emphasised the significance of strong governance constructions, stakeholder engagement and succession planning. “Now we’re at a stage the place we’re fascinated with constructing an endowment. The succession plan is the largest elephant within the room. “I wish to go away the group in such a approach that they’ve a variety of human capital and monetary sources, however above all one thing to at all times fall again on,” he added.
Lawal can also be taking part within the All Africa Media Leaders Summit 2024, whereas intently monitoring and interesting in a variety of consultations on the continuing 2024 UN Civil Society Convention, forward of the Summit of The Future in September , as an SDGs Award-winning campaigner.
Grassroots activist Hamzat Lawal shares insights on constructing resilient nonprofits in Africa
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