On 12th November, we had the pleasure of inviting our CD4D2 stakeholders in Nigeria to a coordination meeting. Coordination between stakeholders is crucial to the success of the project and we recognize the strong engagement of the representatives of the selected host institutions.
The meeting took place online and had a high turnout. Representatives of the Federal Ministry, and of the different host institutions from the ICT, Health and Agriculture sector were present, as well as IOM the Netherlands and Nigeria.
After a round of introductions, the CD4D2 team informed attendees about the project-specific procedures and processes. Since the Nigerian host institutions still need to welcome the first diaspora experts, not everyone was familiar with the project’s details. The meeting was thus a good occasion to bring everyone to the same level of information.
We also heard from Stanley Mbelu, Vice Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Europe (Netherlands Chapter), who voiced the perspective of the Nigerian diaspora in the Netherlands. This allowed the stakeholders to better understand the set of skills the diaspora in the Netherlands have and what their expectations are regarding knowledge transfer to Nigerian institutions.
Finally, we discussed the grounds covered so far and which targets need to be met by the end of 2021. Many stakeholders made suggestions on how to overcome bottlenecks and how to streamline communication. Thus, seeing that the first 3 diaspora experts will soon start their assignments at ICT institutions, we look forward to a further roll-out of CD4D2 in Nigeria.
“Making a Tangible Contribution to the Development of Somaliland”