PIND celebrates 10 years of sustainable development in Niger Delta

The Partnership for Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), a non-governmental organisation, is set to mark its ten years of operations in the oil-rich region.

In a statement on Thursday, the organisation stated that it is committed to peacebuilding and capacity development in the Niger Delta region.

PIND further noted that since its establishment in 2010, it has been promoting peace and equitable economic growth in the Niger Delta region by forging multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder partnerships at the regional, national, and international levels.

“The themes of our anniversary celebration align with our programmatic goals and successes since 2010,” Tunji Idowu, PIND’s executive director, said.

“They are reducing poverty, powering coastal communities, nurturing employment and exclusivity—especially women and youths, fostering stability and conflict resolution, and enabling market development for local organizations.”

According to Dara Akala, immediate past executive director of the organisation, PIND is also focused on achieving sustainable development goals in the region.

“Our major program areas are the sustainable reduction of poverty and conflict,” Akala said.

“Economic growth, peacebuilding, and stability work together in a clear hierarchy of cause and effect that include enablers, outputs, systemic outcomes, improved institutional performance, and impact.”

PIND has trained and built the capacity of more than 10,000 peace actors and mitigated nearly 900 emerging conflicts through the Partners for Peace (P4P) programme.

“In 2010, PIND was simply an ambitious vision designed to foster peace, create jobs, and raise incomes—with no clarity on how we could actualize it,” Rick Kennedy, PIND’s board of trustees chairperson, said.

“So, together with partners and collaborators, we co-created, co-designed, co-implemented, and co-owned pioneering programs that tackled multiple problems on multiple fronts.”

PIND and its operating partner, US-based NDPI, have had a major impact in the Niger Delta over the last decade –including over USD 100 million in additional investments from government entities, the private sector, and donor agencies into the region.