The CLEEN Foundation has been awarded a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to improve police accountability in Nigeria through sustainable reforms.
The grant is part of a roughly estimated $80 million in awards in support of the MacArthur Foundation’s equitable recovery initiative, centred on advancing racial and ethnic justice.
Announcing the award through a statement on Friday, Benson Olugbuo, executive director, CLEEN Foundation, explained that the grant will support the foundation to deepen the advocacy on police reforms through strategic collaboration with critical stakeholders concerned with policing in Nigeria.
“The drive for reformed police in Nigeria has become apparent and non-negotiable, considering events that surrounded the EndSARS protests which touched on the need for the Nigeria police force and other security agencies to respect the fundamental rights of citizens to protest impunity and misconduct and for them to act within the confines of the law,” Olugbuo said.
He added that the grant will sustain CLEEN Foundation’s efforts to push for holistic police reforms in Nigeria, and to make the police more accountable to the citizens, as well as improve working in collaboration with key government agencies and partners.
CLEEN Foundation is a non-governmental organisation established in January 1998 with the mission of promoting public safety, security, and accessible justice through the strategies of empirical research, legislative advocacy, demonstration programmes and publications, in partnership with government, civil society and the private sector.
The foundation is one of the organisations receiving grants to advance the Racial Justice Field Support, especially on combating Anti-Blackness focus areas of the MacArthur Foundation’s initiative.