One House Development Initiative

One House Development Initiative was invited as one of the health partners of Osun state to work with the various sectors of the Osun State Ministry of Health on the 5-day Health Sector MDAs Annual Operational Plan Development, Harmonization and Finalization.

We were privileged to be part of the SMART objectives/activities designs and also getting some exposure on the AOP tool being used for the gathering and harmonizing of the plans and budget.

We were privileged to work with the state coordinator of Reproductive Health (RH) while we had some access to adolescent and Family Planning (FP).

We however noticed that there weren’t much for the disability community which we aired. Fortunately, we were directed appropriately and we started a serious advocacy for insurance expansion for persons with albinism and persons with spinal cord injuries.

We went through with the writing of operational activities, AOP budget preparation module and the harmonization of the AOP.

Lessons learnt:
1. Many advocacies start too late because they weren’t planned for in the budget. Advocacies are better when they start early enough to meet up with budget preparation.
2. Expect easy fixes less.
3. Respect and find processes and procedures.

We had a meeting with the SA to the governor on Innovation, Science, Technology and Digital Economy, Hon. Azeez badmus Guru O Mania and the SA to the Governor on SDGs, Hon. Bankole Omisore to discuss possible solutions to the issue of WAEC/NECO that is going to CBT by 2026.

The discussion was about possible solutions which also factored in realistic expectations of the government especially around funding. We were to put up a proposal for a possible solution but we seem to be considering other possible options and we would also love to learn from others who may have ideas on possible solutions around this.

TESCOM has made it clear that their work is towards the teachers and OSSESEB’s work is to the students which imply that as we make plans, there should be properly separated provisions made for both teachers and students and data should be massively considered.

Basic areas of needs are computer/CBT teachers, equipped ICT laboratories and trainings for teachers and that should be inclusive.