By Roselyn Odeh

Picture this: a bustling gathering of minds, a mosaic of cultures, all converging in the centre of commerce, Kano State, Nigeria. This vibrant scene was the backdrop for the annual A360 Community Moment. The A360 Community Moment is an annual gathering where all A360 implementing countries converge to immerse themselves in the review of the project performance across key technical areas, revisit strategy elements to ensure alignment with the programme’s approach and expected outcomes and explore prospects while also learning from the experience of the host country’s programme. This year, the vibrant city of Kano, Nigeria, played host to representatives from Kenya, Ethiopia and the United States.

From February 5th to 9th February 2024, the air buzzed with excitement as teams immersed themselves in a kaleidoscope of learning experiences in the aspects of adaptations for improving the effectiveness of Service Delivery/Quality of Care as well as Demand Generation for ASRH/RMNCAEH, Girl Capital Development, Transitioning for Sustainable scale-up and Research. These are not mere buzzwords, but pillars upon which the A360 vision stands tall. The activity served to interact with programme results from each country thus providing an opportunity for cross-learning and celebrating the little and big wins. Venturing into the heart of communities, teams experienced firsthand the impact of the A360 Nigeria MMA programme from the visits to Dawakiji and Gano Primary Health Care, Dan-Hassan and Karfi where they observed ASRH service delivery, conducted data quality assessment, participated in the male engagements and Life Family and Health sessions respectively.

These programmatic site visits presented a real-time opportunity for the global team to interact with Nigeria’s programme beneficiaries, service providers, demand generation agents and also the government officials capacitated to lead implementation in the state. Each visit was a tapestry of insights, and sounds and afforded our visitors an opportunity to connect, learn and note areas that they can apply to their country’s programmes. Amidst the strategic discussions and programmatic site visits, there were moments of exploration and a trip to the Minjibir Park provided a platform for team building, appreciation and constructive feedback.
As the Community Moment drew to a close on February 9th, teams reflected and developed actionable work plans to guide project implementation and TA needs for the year. Team members departed with a renewed sense of purpose and camaraderie. The meeting achieved its aim of strengthening alignment on the Project’s vision and setting the stage for collaborative success in 2024 and beyond.