NAN-AE-6
Environment
By Vivian Emoni
Abuja, Aug. 11, 2017 (NAN) Prof. Emmanuel Ladipo of the University of Lagos has advised the coordinators of non-governmental organisaions (NGOs) to redouble their efforts to sensitise the public to salient environmental issues.
Ladipo, a professor of climatology, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
“The NGO coordinators should ensure that they engage in strong public sensitisation in the communities where they are executing environmental schemes and projects.
“The awareness activity should aim at educating the populace on salient environmental issues to enable them to take adequate precautions.
“The coordinators should continuously create awareness, especially at the local level; there is no amount of public awareness that can be enough.
“The essence of the awareness is to educate the communities on the importance of the projects, the sustainability of the projects and dangers that are involved if the projects are not maintained.
“The non-maintenance of the projects can also create unhealthy environment and affect the livelihoods of the people negatively.
“The NGO coordinators should also collaborate with government agencies and other relevant stakeholders in staging the public awareness campaign,’’ he said.
Ladipo said that the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), through the Small Grants Programme (SGP), had supported many NGOs in executing their projects.
He said that GEF/SGP had been supporting NGOs and community-based organisations to protect the environment, while generating sustainable livelihoods for the poor and marginalised across the country.
He said that GEF/SGP had promoted sustainable utilisation of environmental resources through projects, while aiding communities in efforts to safeguard the environment and ensuring that individuals derived maximum benefits from the projects.
Ladipo, however, advised the NGO coordinators to be proactive and more dedicated so as to enable them to effectively tackle most of the environmental issues and challenges facing the people, particularly at the grassroots level.
He also urged the coordinators to always disseminate information on their achievements in the course of implementing specific projects so as to enable them to garner more support from GEF/SGP and other donor agencies. (NAN)
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