The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project and the Kaduna Basic Education Accountability Mechanism (KADBEAM) have begun discussions on a strategic partnership to sustain girls’ education investments in Kaduna State.
The discussions took place during a courtesy visit by KADBEAM to the AGILE State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) on Friday in Kaduna.
The meeting focused on preserving the gains of the World bank-supported AGILE project through stronger community ownership, accountability, behaviour change communication and policy advocacy beyond its implementation period.
Speaking for KADBEAM, its Secretary, Simeon Olatunde, said development interventions often struggled after donor funding ended because communities were rarely prepared to sustain interventions independently.
Olatunde said KADBEAM had built strong expertise in education accountability, citizen engagement, budget tracking and independent monitoring through years of community-based interventions.
He said the mechanism’s experience positioned it to support sustainability planning and community-led accountability initiatives across Kaduna state.
Olatunde cited the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) and Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC) Project as examples of KADBEAM’s experience.
He proposed supporting AGILE through community dialogues, parents’ forums and engagement with traditional and religious leaders to improve support for girls’ education.
Olatunde said KADBEAM’s Beta Nigeria Campaign communication platform used radio, storytelling, drama, digital media and local-language content to mobilise grassroots communities.
He said the platform could help promote positive attitudes towards girls’ education and increase community participation in education programmes.
Speaking for AGILE, the newly appointed Project Coordinator, Abdulhalim Ladan, said the project still had about 18 months of implementation remaining.
Ladan said deliberate measures were already underway to ensure the project’s achievements continued benefiting communities after implementation ended.
He said sustainability depended on stronger community ownership and collaboration with relevant stakeholders across Kaduna State.
Ladan said discussions also examined harmful social norms, including early marriage and gender stereotypes, affecting girls’ enrolment, retention and completion.
He said the meeting explored collaboration on Second Chance Education programmes for adolescent girls and young women who were out of school.
Ladan said proposed partnership areas included strengthening School-Based Management Committees, independent monitoring, policy advocacy, media engagement and community ownership of AGILE-supported infrastructure.
He said both organisations agreed to deepen engagement, with KADBEAM expected to submit a proposal outlining practical areas of collaboration.
Ladan said the partnership would strengthen accountability, enhance community ownership and ensure investments in girls’ education delivered lasting benefits across Kaduna State.(NAN)
