The President, VICAR HOPE FOUNDATION, NIGERIA, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu has revealed that among the greatest highpoints of year 2019 was the recognition granted to Vicar Hope Foundation by the United Nations as the Foundation was able to secure the investiture of UN ECOSOC Special Consultative Status.
Mrs. Ikpeazu disclosed this in public statement she made at the beginning of the year 2020 on the activities of the Vicar Hope Foundation since inception and projection for the new year.
According to her, “Vicar Hope Foundation can have observers and representatives at the United Nations General Assembly, the UN ECOSOC, the Human Rights Council and public meetings of other United Nations intergovernmental bodies, as well as submit special papers and memo to the United Nations for consideration. The Consultative Status expands the Foundation’s global reach and partnership capabilities.”
She noted that the Foundation, in the year under review, witnessed a lot of growth spurts and numerous successes as well as improved its ability to meet her mandate of touching lives adding that it enhanced quality of life for several persons and made life more meaningful for others across all its avenues of service.
On the successes recorded, Mrs. Ikpeazu informed that the Foundation completed the implementation of their 3-year Strategic Plan for Sickle Cell spanning 2016 – 2019 with early predictions indicating an 85 percent success rate on goals; expanded of coverage of breast cancer, through VHF Diagnostics Centre ss well as completing the 84th house under the Widows and Indigent Shelter Scheme.
The wife of the Governor attributed the success achieved to increased partnership and collaborative base, noting that, “2019 witnessed improved collaboration with Abia State government and its agencies. We also struck up partnerships with advocates of sickle cell disease reduction and this helped expand the reaches of our messaging.”
Explaining further, she said, “We strengthened our delivery of subsidized care for sickle cell patients, ensuring that the rising cost of consumables did not in any way affect services to our clients. We absorbed these increased costs because the Founders believe that philanthropy remains the ideal of Vicar Hope Foundation.”
She maintained that the two sickle cell care centres in Aba and Umuahia have continued to function optimally offering medical relief to sickle cell patients, while their designated outreach teams have reached more communities and formal institutions with the targeted messaging.
According to her, “In fulfilling our pledge to fight SCD, we marked the 2019 World Sickle cell Day with rallies. In addition, we held 30 days of sensitization, outreaches and roadshows from 1st September to 30th September to highlight sickle cell issues. Our radio interactive programme “Half Hour of Hope”, that ran for a season on BCA radio apparently was another avenue for promoting SCD issues in 2019. Drawing from the Abia State Identification of Blood Group and Genotype Law, which we promoted until its successful passage, we have carried out advocacies to public institutions, encouraging the implementation of the law.
“In June 2019, we held a stakeholder workshop bringing together all groups and establishments that are to be involved in the implementation of the law, to develop strategies for the implementation of the law. We carried out this project because Vicar Hope Foundation has played itself into position as major stakeholder in sickle cell care and prevention in Abia.”
Ikpeazu however clarified that her Foundation would not take over the role of the State Ministry of Health or its agencies but rather would play complementary role so as to enhance whatever they might be doing.
While encouraging the Ministry of Health to play its role as lead policy-maker and implementer in the sickle cell sphere, she assured that Vicar Hope Foundation was willing to partner to help the Ministry build capacity in that regard.
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