Lagos, Nigeria – On September 25, 2021, the Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF or the Fund), will combine efforts with the international advocacy organization, Global Citizen, at the Global Citizen Live event to call on world leaders, corporate organizations, and foundations to address critical issues affecting the world, top of which is the Covid-19 pandemic and the issues bordering on vaccine equity and vaccine hesitancy. As an advocate for impact, the NSSF is one of the partner institutions headlining the event alongside Global Citizen.
Established as a partnership between Global Citizen and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), the NSSF is an innovative platform for resource mobilization primarily created to complement government’s efforts to mitigating the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Nigerians. The Fund has set its strategic priority for 2021/2022 to “ensure that one million Nigerians” are vaccinated against Covid-19 and is therefore proudly partnering with Global Citizen to amplify this call on global organizations and world leaders to address the issues of equitable distribution of and education about Covid-19 with the urgency it deserves.
“There is only one way of dealing with this pandemic, which is the vaccines and as we well know, to get the type of herd immunity that makes a nation safe, there is a minimum percentage of the population that needs to be covered, typically well above 60%. In Nigeria, we are way below that with only about 1% of the populace having received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccines”, said Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede Vice Chairman of Global Citizen Nigeria.
“Considering the scary statistics and the need to act fast to save lives, we are putting necessary mechanisms in place to enable us mobilize the required resources to get at least one million Nigerians vaccinated before the end of 2022’, he said. He further added, ‘’… the Global Citizen Live event affords us the opportunity to tell our impact story and get the support we need to end this pandemic in the quickest time possible.
The Global Citizen Live is a Historic 24-Hour Broadcast Spanning Six Continents and will air across ABC, ABC News Live, BBC, FX, iHeartRadio, Hulu, YouTube, TIME, Twitter, and more. Artistes will help rally citizens in demanding that governments, major corporations, and philanthropists work together to defeat poverty and defend the planet by focusing on the most urgent, interrelated threats hitting those in poverty the hardest – climate change, vaccine equity, and famine.
Coinciding with the UN General Assembly (Sept) before the G20 Meeting (Oct) and COP26 Meeting (Nov), these events focus on interconnected issues: vaccine equity, climate change, and famine.
ABOUT NIGERIA SOLIDARITY SUPPORT FUND (NSSF)
The NSSF is a private sector led non-profit organisation born out of a partnership between the international advocacy organization, Global Citizen and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) to complement efforts in combating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic through fund raising to address three core COVID-19 response areas: supporting the most vulnerable, strengthening health care systems and re-skilling of Nigerian youth for The New Nigeria.
The Institution believes that everyone should have access to quality and affordable healthcare services when they need it, young Nigerians should be enabled with opportunities for self-empowerment and well-skilled for a post-COVID era and that the most vulnerable, disadvantaged, and marginalized groups in Nigeria should not be left behind.
For more information, visit https://nigeriasolidarityfund.ng/ and globalcitizen.org
