In 1999 the first Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) volunteer, Joan Neary, arrived in Sokoto. During her work here she suggested to the several NGOs already formed the idea of forming a network which would enable them to share skills, resources and apply for funds from both local and international donors. In the year 2000 some of the NGOs in Sokoto came together and formed the coalition. The coalition to date has about thirty registered members who are working in various areas such as HIV & AIDS, Street Children, Adolescent Girls, Human Rights, Women Empowerment, and Advocacy.
The coalition is run by an Executive Committee which comprises of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer, Financial Treasurer, Public Relations Officer I & II, Legal Officer, Internal Auditor and two ex-officials. The coalition has a Board of Trustees too.
Through this coalition members have been able to share their skills and resources.
Click on the document to download it. The program needed to read it is shown in brackets.
The 2007-2009 Strategic Plan (Adobe Reader file - size 2.2 Mb)
The CONSS Constitution - amended October 2006 (MS Word document 82 Kb)
The CONSS Code of Conduct (MS Word document 55 Kb)
Phyllis Mureu from VSO Kenya, a successor to Joan Neary, worked with CONSS in Sokoto from April 2004 to December 2005. During her time many projects were advanced and in particular the Resource Center was planned and opened to the public. Phyllis also used the United Nations Online Volunteering Service to look for someone who would start a web site for CONSS.
The person she found was Jim Flewker, a retired teacher who lives in Northern England. Jim is grateful to his wife for reading about the Year of the Volunteer (2005) in the newspaper and pointing him to the UN site! Jim continues to develop the CONSS site, and together with his friend from schooldays, David Mordaunt, also a retired teacher, has funded the costs of the web site for its first two years.
Jim would recommend Online Volunteering as a rewarding experience to anyone reading this who might be able to spare some time. Take a look at the OV web site - it's not all about computer expertise, there's much more you can contribute and many more skills that are useful.
Phyllis is now back in Kenya, but continues to keep in touch with and support both CONSS and Jim via the World Wide Web, which sometimes really does deserve its name.
The current VSO Adviser is Esme Berkhout, from the Netherlands.