EU, British Council pledge support to civil society in Nigeria

The European Union has reiterated its commitment to support the civil society organisation in various areas of sustainable development in Nigeria.

The head of Democracy Awareness and Migration of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, Clement Boutillier, disclosed this during a zoom interactive session organised for civil society and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on the implementation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.

Boutillier said the decision of the EU to step up support for the civil society around the world and Nigeria was to increase their involvement in deepening democracy.

He said the EU-Act programme implemented by the British Council was one of the areas the regional body is supporting the civil society in their work, adding that they are happy to provide the platform to for CSOs to share their perspectives with the CAC over their new act.

The European Union agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation (EU-ACT) programme aims to contribute to more inclusive, effective, accountable and gender responsive development in Nigeria through enhancing the credibility and role of civil society organisations (CSOs) as drivers of change for sustainable development.

In his goodwill message, the programme manager of the EU Act, Damilare Babalola, said the implementation of the programme would help the CSOs to improve the legal and regulatory environment covering their areas of focus.