2022 IN PHOTOS

Visits to Youth Employment Pathways (YEP) project implementing partners to ascertain the progress of the training, interact with the trainees and the trainers, and ensure compliance to YEP training standards. PIND’s YEP is a model of youth training in which marginalized young people are trained in market-relevant skills and subsequently supported into sustainable jobs or enterprises. It contributes to the reduction in unemployment in the Niger Delta.

February

PIND partnered with DMG Limited to facilitate the training of 50 solar PV entrepreneurs in Warri (Delta State), Yenagoa (Bayelsa State) and Port Harcourt (Rivers State) to improve their businesses development and income generation within the opportunity-laden solar home systems and other associated solar PV technologies market in the Niger Delta.

March

March 8 is International Women’s Day, a global event promoted by the United Nations. We marked the day with the subtheme, “Sustainable Livelihoods: When Women Lead”. Activities included the distribution of smoking kilns, bio-digesters and solar home systems to female entrepreneurs urban and rural areas.

PIND facilitated the Niger Delta Peace and Security Network (NDPSN) meeting in Umuahia, Abia State. It was attended by civil society organizations (CSOs) from and around Umuahia who support or plan to support activities, projects, and programs related to peace, security, and development in the Niger Delta. NDPSN was set up to ensure and improve coordination among CSOs working towards peace and security in the Niger Delta. It has chapters in each state

We partnered with Beyond Regular, to host a one-day mentorship event for up to 320 young professionals at YP Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The event is an avenue for young professionals to learn and get mentorship from industry leaders. About 50 beneficiaries from the YEP project also participated in the event, further ensuring they gained the so skills needed to grow their careers and businesses.

PIND created the Niger Delta Peace Champions in 2022 as part of our peacebuilding and conflict resolution strategy in the region. The Peace Champions are young people from 18 to 35 years passionate about making a difference in their communities through peacebuilding.

As part of business development activities to widen its stakeholder engagement and enhance its visibility and brand positioning, PIND attended the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) annual West Africa Regional Conference in Accra, Ghana. ANDE is a global network of organizations that propel entrepreneurship in developing economies. Its members provide critical financial, educational, and business support services to small and growing businesses.

Twelve implementing partners received grants for the second year of the Youth Employment Pathways (YEP) project in Delta State. Seven hundred and eighty youth participated in the so and technical skills training. The focal sectors were agriculture, ICT, construction, renewable energy, and services (catering, fashion designing, finished leather).

PIND and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a regional peacebuilding infrastructure that would contribute to efforts to address conflict and security issues in the region. The Niger Delta Regional Peacebuilding Strategy would harmonize the peacebuilding activities by various stakeholders in the region and would be overseen by a Technical Working Group.

PIND sponsored a new category, the PIND Prize for Niger Delta Reporting, at the 31st edition of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME). The award sponsorship was an initiative geared at promoting and rewarding solution and development reporting on issues within the Niger Delta.