“Our legacy isn’t outlined via the part 1000000000 bucks granted to at least one,098 companions, despite the fact that those numbers don’t seem to be insignificant for a philanthropic basis.

“Our legacy is highest mirrored within the spirit that underpinned each and every partnership, within the profound and long-standing relationships we constructed with our companions.”

Those had been the phrases of Dr ChiChi Aniagolu-Okoye, Regional Director of the Ford Foundation Office of West Africa (FFOWA), because the Foundation marked its sixty fifth anniversary in Abuja.

The milestone birthday party dubbed “OWA@65: From Nation Building to Social Justice” introduced in combination grantees, companions, alumni, and pals to replicate on greater than six a long time of advancing social justice, equality, and inclusive approach around the area.

Dr. Aniagolu-Okoye described the anniversary as “a profound moment of gratitude and recommitment,” emphasising that the Foundation’s energy lies no longer within the scale of its giving however within the relationships it has nurtured.

Since setting up its first regional administrative center in Lagos in 1960—the similar yr Nigeria won independence—the Ford Foundation has labored with over one thousand companions throughout West Africa, in particular in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal. Grants totalling greater than part 1000000000 bucks have reinforced market signals and establishments in schooling, governance, ladies’s empowerment, human rights, arts, and environmental justice.

“This milestone belongs not to one institution, but to a shared community of changemakers across West Africa and beyond. Since 1960, our mission has remained clear—to stand with those building just and inclusive societies,” she stated

Martín Abregu, Senior Vice President of the Ford Foundation, famous that West Africa continues to play a central position within the Foundation’s cross-border venture to cut back inequality and advance social justice.

“The Ford Foundation began as an American philanthropic institution, but today it is a global organisation rooted in local realities,” he stated.

“Our offices from Lagos to Johannesburg, New Delhi to Mexico City, serve as bridges between the local and the global. What happens in the Niger Delta, Ghana’s universities, or the streets of Dakar informs how the world understands social justice,” he added.

Delivering the keynote, His Excellency Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, counseled the Foundation’s enduring affect at the area’s approach.

“The Ford Foundation’s approach is a model of partnership rooted in humility, courage, and a steadfast belief in the potential of West Africans to drive their own progress,” he stated, including that social justice “places the human being—not statistics—at the centre of development.”

Goodwill messages had been delivered via Dr Peter Mbah, Executive Governor of Enugu State; Darren Walker, Outgoing President of the Ford Foundation; and Heather Gerken, the Foundation’s present President.

In a message learn on her behalf via Tolu Onafowokan, Director, Strategic Communications on the Ford Foundation, Heather Gerken, the newly appointed President of the Ford Foundation, reaffirmed her dedication to proceeding the Foundation’s legacy of partnership and trust-based philanthropy.

“Our task is to build on the gains already made—to deepen accountability, strengthen democratic institutions, expand opportunity, and protect the most vulnerable. The Foundation will continue to listen first, respect local expertise, and support the bold ideas that emerge from communities themselves,” she stated.

She prolonged her heartfelt congratulations to the Government and other folks of Nigeria on 65 years of independence and to the workforce of the Ford Foundation’s Office of West Africa at the instance in their sixty fifth anniversary, emphasising that each milestones “affirm a shared commitment to justice, democracy, and enduring partnership.”

As a part of the commemoration, FFOWA introduced a legacy e-newsletter and documentary movie chronicling the tales, faces, and milestones that experience outlined the Foundation’s contribution to West Africa’s approach and social transformation over 65 years.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made via Readers and Contributors in this platform don’t essentially constitute the perspectives or coverage of Multimedia Group Limited.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made via Readers and Contributors in this platform don’t essentially constitute the perspectives or coverage of Multimedia Group Limited.