The Manager, Peace Building for Foundation for Partnership Initiative in Niger Deltan (PIND), Dr. David Udofia, has reiterated the organisation’s commitment in pushing for self-economic development of women and girls in the Niger Delta region.
PIND is a non-profit organisation that promotes peace and equitable economic growth in the Niger Delta region through strategic partnership and collaboration.
The PIND Peace Building Manager said the organisation is open to ideas, partnerships, collaboration in other to work towards creating positive impact within the Niger Delta region.
Udofia stated this during a collaborative meeting with the Step-Up Media for Women Initiative (SWIJ), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Port Harcourt.
According to him, when there is peace, there is transformation for economic development, and such can create an enabling environment for growth.
Udofia urged media practitioners to continue to play a significant role to ensure that the political crisis in the state does not escalate through their works.
He said that under the peace building programme pillars, the organisation has two mega projects which are Partners for Peace (P4P) and Integrated Peace and Peace Development Unit (IPPDU).
Udofia said that PIND works within the peace building programme to create enabling environment for social economic and political activities to strive within the Niger Delta region and also for media practitioners to move and work freely in the state.
He added that PIND has currently over 11,000 peace actors across the Niger Delta region within the peace building programme.
“Recently, we have carried out intervention activities in four states against specific headers, farmers crisis in Delta, Ondo, Cross River and Edo.
“We also have trainings in an early warning and early response a platform unique to PIND, in the sense that we don’t only give to signals in terms of early warning, but this is what journalism also does, but we also balance it up with early response when there are issues of violence or conflicts to prevent escalation, “Udofia said.
He assured that the PIND would partner with the SWIJ, haven seen that their work falls in line with the core values of PIND, which centres on sustainability, mentorship, integrity, transparency and accountability.
“We will collaborate with your organisation to change the narratives in the Niger Delta region, especially as it affects women and girls in the region,” he assured.
Earlier, Team Lead for SWIJ, Ann Godwin, said the visit was to collaborate with PIND to further drive home the objectives of peace building, women empowerment and equitable economic development among women and girls in the region.
Godwin said that SWIJ had observed with interest the programmes and policies of the PIND in promoting training, and empowering women and girls and deemed it necessary to collaborate with the organisation to amplify the voices of women, build their capacities and change the narratives on gender-based issues.
According to Godwin, SWIJ is an organisation that promotes excellence among women and girls, just as it focuses on issues of gender mainstreaming as one of its core values.
She stated that the era of gender disparities was over where women were related to the backstage, adding that there is a phenomenal rise of African women who are making great impacts in different sectors of the economy.
She expressed optimism that the collaboration with PIND would engender richer impacts among women and girls in the Niger Delta region.
