Supporting Gender

Equality and Social Inclusion for Women, Youth, and People with Disabilities

At the center of PIND’s 2020–2024 strategic plan is the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of poor women and girls, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and the most vulnerable populations. PIND strives to ensure that the people of Nigeria’s Niger Delta have access to decent jobs, economic opportunities, and educational advancement, irrespective of ability, age, gender, or location. Our support and empowerment of youth, women, and persons with disabilities (PWDs) address the SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), and 10 (Reduced inequality).

In 2023, PIND positioned women’s economic empowerment at the core of its economic development activities. By the end of the year, about 26,500 women (farmers and MSMEs) had benefited from our various economic development interventions. Under the YEP project, 823 (45%) of 1,824 youths who completed their training were female and 20 identified as PWDs.

Out of 602 who secured internship/apprenticeship positions right after, 270 (45%) were female and 6 were PWD, while 278 (47%) of 590 youth participants who secured immediate employment or started their own business were female, and eight were PWDs.Our peace building interventions included 63,013 participants in the areas of conflict mitigation, peace and stability, skills enhancements, and mentorships. Among these participants, 23,612 (37%) were women, 7,370 were youth and 93 were PWDs.

2023 International Women’s Day (IWD) Celebration

Globally, March 8 is commemorated as International Women’s Day (IWD). It is a day set aside to celebrate women’s achievements, advocate for more opportunities, and increase awareness of eliminating barriers that hinder women.

However, PIND marked this year’s IWD on March 22 with a special one-day event tagged ‘Sensitization on Innovations and Technological Advancement for Women Empowerment’ at the PIND Economic Development Center (EDC) in Warri, Delta State.

In line with our sub-theme ‘Embrace Equity through Technology and Innovation’, activities aimed to educate women, youth, and people with disabilities (PWDs) on the need to adopt innovative mechanisms and improved technology in their businesses for growth and empowerment. The participants included beneficiaries of PIND’s projects and programs from Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, and Ondo states.

The UN Women theme for 2023 was ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.’ It aligned with the International IWD theme ‘Embrace Equity’, which advocated for a gender-equal world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

2022 - 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence

Every year, PIND joins the international community from November 25 to December 10 to campaign against gender-based violence (GBV). The 16-Days of Activism campaign is a strategy used to draw attention to, and call for, preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls by individuals and organizations worldwide.

PIND has been at the forefront of addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the Niger Delta, investing time and resources in collaboration with local organizations. For the 2023 campaign, we continued our efforts under the sub-theme ‘Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women & Girls in the Niger Delta Region’.

We provided small grants to six female-headed organizations that conducted targeted awareness campaigns, skills acquisition, and capacity-building activities. The organizations include the SouthSouth Professional Women Association (SSPWA) – Edo State; the Women Empowerment Education and Peace Building Initiative (WEPBI) – Imo State; and the Development Initiative for Community Impact (DICI) – Delta State; the Women and Community Livelihood Foundation (WOCLIF) – Akwa Ibom State; and the Better Living Foundation and Capacity Development (BEFCAD) – Ondo State.

Nneka Chime is an Advisory Partner at the CrossBoundary group and has been helping NDPI design and implement an impact investing strategy.

“NDPI is in a unique position to drive impactful and lasting change in the Niger Delta, leveraging a strong history of on the ground operations that have stimulated the private sector, engaged the community and contributed to peace. I am excited to work with NDPI on the next phase, that seeks to amplify impact by scaling up private sector investments, while catalyzing commitments from mission aligned stakeholders in a sustainable manner that will drive peace, stability, economic opportunity and ultimately prosperity”

Nneka Chime Partner,

Cross Boundary Advisory

Paul Turner is the President and Executive Director of the FFP since January 2022, with 25 years of experience in national security, working in over 90 conflict-affected countries. He has held key positions at USAID and the U.S. Department of State, launched significant initiatives, and serves on multiple boards.

“NDPI is advancing efforts and positioning itself at the front of a new initiative to explore the potential effect of impact investing on peace building. Through research and partnerships, PIND is seeking to develop foundational knowledge, identify tools, design approaches and methodologies and ultimately, catalyze investment and position peace building as an investment assurance, yielding sustainable economic and peace building outcomes”.

John A. Simon is a Founder and the Managing Partner/CEO of Total Impact Capital (TOTAL), an impact investing firm that structures, markets, and manages financing vehicles for underserved communities.

“We are very excited to collaborate with PIND to support its journey to become a financially sustainable organization, dedicated to deliver high impact in a larger scale in the Niger Delta region. We intend to do this by building an innovative financing mechanism that capitalizes on the impact achieved by PIND’s operations, and attracting impact investors, funders, and other private sector entities”.

Paul Turner

Presudent & Executive Director, Fund for Peace

Amb. John Simon Founding & Managing Partner, Total Impact Capital

Dr Frank Aswani is the CEO of the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), a network of social investors collaborating to increase the flow of capital (grants, debt, or equity & nonfinancial capital) into social investments in Africa to address the continent’s SDG financing gap.

“I was really glad to engage and work with the NDPI board and team, where I not only saw a huge passion for wanting to solve the problems in the Niger Delta, but also an openness to doing things differently for greater impact. This commitment was further exemplified by taking seven of NDPI’s staff through AVPA’s Africa Impact Investing Fellowship. This program provided them with advanced training and new perspectives on leveraging investment for social impact. Their enthusiasm and willingness to embrace innovative strategies highlighted NDPI’s dedication to sustainable development and making a tangible difference in the region.”

Dr. Frank Aswani

Chief Executive Officer African Venture Philanthropy Alliance