Core Services

Some of our core services include;

  • Organizational capacity development for state, LGA and CSOs
  • Household Economic Strengthening
  • Nutrition
  • Integrated social services for OVC: protection, psychosocial support, education & health
  • Para social workforce development

 

Strategies

  • Sub-granting: Stakeholder involvement and coordination in the subgrant process will help to ensure subgrantees are working towards addressing objectives outlined in the National Plan of Action for Support of Vulnerable Children 2011-2016 (NPA) in a coordinated fashion. Substantial involvement of USAID is anticipated, and will include opportunities to review and provide feedback on the subgrant manual and Requests for Applications (RFAs). Other stakeholders include UNICEF, FMWASD, SMWASD, LGAs, private sector and civil society representatives.
  • Capacity building: SMILE views capacity strengthening as a process that improves the ability of an individual, group, organization, network, or system to enhance or develop new knowledge, skills, attitudes (KSAs), systems, and structures needed to function effectively, work towards sustainability, and achieve goals.
  • Staff embedment in State Ministry of Women Affairs (SMWASD)
  • Systems strengthening: SMILE will strengthen the existing systems and structures that deliver OVC services rather than duplicating or replacing these with direct service delivery. Improved institutional systems through capacity strengthening will contribute to more effective planning, coordination, and M&E. SMILE will link with existing systems strengthening programs led by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria, and TB in primary health centers and those supported by UNICEF and USG/PEPFAR to develop the social welfare workforce. SMILE will build on these efforts to develop a sustainable system for volunteer recruitment, management and retention.
  • Private sector engagement: While capacity strengthening will focus primarily on state institutions and CSOs, cross sector engagement with private sector entities, both for-profit and non-profit, contributes to sustainability by increasing access to services and support as well as markets for OVC households. CRS will draw from its success in working with private health and education institutions in Nigeria, along with its global experience with other financial and agro-enterprise models to engage the thriving private sector in Nigeria. In each state, SMILE will forge new relationships between the Government, CSOs and private sector firms who share a desire to develop communities and productive members of society.
  • Innovation: Using a structured approach of organizational and technical capacity assessments to identify major capacity gaps and development of capacity building plans to address these gaps, SMILE is able to demonstrate improvements in a number of capacity domains.