THE Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has been awarded a multi-million dollar grant by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to promote vaccine acceptance and access for marginalised groups in northern part of Nigeria.

The grant is part of roughly $80 million (N32,876,134,816.46) in awards announced by MacArthur on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in support of its Equitable Recovery initiative focused on advancing racial and ethnic justice. The initiative is funded by MacArthur’s social bonds, issued in response to the crises of the pandemic and racial inequity.

“As we emerge from this moment of crisis, we have an opportunity to improve the critical systems that people and places need to thrive. Our systems and structures must be rebuilt,” said MacArthur President, John Palfrey, while announcing the grant. “We are committed to ensuring that our response to the pandemic is focused on supporting the reimagining of systems that create a more just, equitable, and resilient world,” Palfrey added.

The announcement revealed that 45 per cent of the new funding supports work outside of the U.S., including 12 per cent in India, and 14 per cent in Nigeria, where MacArthur has offices.

The grant is to support improving access to resources for immediate health challenges while advancing new policies, models, and structures to support a more equitable and resilient public health sector in the future.

Other of focus the grant is meant to support racial justice field support, with a focus on combatting anti-Blackness, building Black power by supporting Black-led and Black-focused philanthropic organisations; uplifting indigenous communities to enable autonomous pursuit of a recovery guided by their priorities, cultures, and practices; restoring communities and reducing incarceration and housing instability by generating an array of housing solutions that can help to permanently end the use of jails and prisons as housing of last resort.