LAPO presents its 7-months scorecard
NAN-H-55
Performance
By Igbaugba Ehigimetor
Benin, Aug. 30, 2017 (NAN) The Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO), said it empowered no fewer than 99, 202 farmers with loan facilities totaling N3.2 billion between January and July, 2017.
The LAPO Executive Director, Mrs Sabina Idowu-Osehobo, disclosed this on Wednesday in Benin while reviewing the performance of the LAPO Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative (LARDI).
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that LAPO is a Nigerian organisation with a microfinance bank dedicated to self-employment through microfinance.
It is also a non-governmental (NGO), non-profit community development organisation focused on the empowerment of the poor and the vulnerable.
Idowu-Osehobo said the loans granted to farmers were to improve food security and enhance their welfare.
She disclosed that 793,957 women across the country had also been empowered with health and social services within the period under review.
On the empowered 793,957 women and other community members in target communities, the Executive Director explained that 187,451 persons received direct services.
She added that others were reached through communication and enlightenment publications.
According to her, the organisation screened 93,289 community members for tropical diseases within the same period.
The director said that 1,829 women received free legal support, while other women were screened for cancer ailments.
“LAPO’s outstanding performance over the years is due to strong institutional strength, staff commitment to excellence and hard work.
“We are ready to maintain our superior performance trajectory but we enjoin low-income farmers to take advantage of this affordable loan opportunity we are offering.
“It will definitely help to enhance the growth and development of your farm enterprises,’’ she said.
On the issue of health, she advised women and other members of the public to embrace preventive healthcare practices, including regular medical check-ups, to mitigate incidences of tropical diseases.
LAPO, Idowu-Osehobo further said, was committed to building the capacity of women and enabling them to dismantle structures and processes that encouraged gender injustice and discrimination against women.
“Economic, social and health empowerment services have always been an integral part of LAPO’s poverty reduction strategy.
“There can be no meaningful development without women empowerment and active participation in development,” she stated.
Speaking on free legal services, she said, “LAPO defended the rights of 16 women who were unable to afford legal services between January and July, 2017, as well as enlightened 1,829 others on various legal matters’’
Idowu-Osehobo decried the humiliating and barbaric treatment that women were usually subjected to, especially at the demise of their husbands.
She stressed that it was offensive and unconstitutional to subject women to any form of abuse, under the guise of religious or customary practices.
Also speaking at the performance review, the Health Manager, Ayobami Obadiora, said early detection of health conditions could be life-saving.
He said that many people had succumbed to preventable ailments due to ignorance and negligence.
Obadiora stressed that LAPO was committed to the prevention and management of tropical diseases, adding that the organisation screened 93, 289 community members for common diseases between January and July, 2017.
He said that those with special cases were referred to health centres for treatment, noting that health counselling and testing had always been a major component of LAPO’s intervention programmes.
Obadiora encouraged pregnant women to demand Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) of malaria twice during pregnancy and thrice in special cases.
He urged women to also obtain free anti-malaria drugs and nets at designated public health facilities.
The health manager said that a significant reduction in self-medication and other forms of drug misuse were also amongst its achievements.
He insisted that rural dwellers were more vulnerable to diseases due to ignorance and unhealthy living practices. (NAN)
ESI/COF/PIO
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(Edited by Oluyinka Fadare/Idonije Obakhedo)