IIDN Shows Support to the Uruana Progressive Assembly Lagos

The Initiative for Inclusive Dialogue in Nigeria (IIDN) was pleased to make a donation for the 2023 End of Year Party of the Uruana Progressive Assembly Lagos, Nigeria. The annual event took place on Sunday, December 3, 2023. It was a time of celebration for children, adults and elders of the Uruana community (native to Nibo Town, Anambra State) living in Lagos.

According to the President of IIDN, Chiamaka Mọgọ — “For decades, the Uruana Progressive Assembly Lagos has promoted the socio-cultural development of the Uruana people. As a child, I looked forward to the annual End of Year events of this Assembly as a way to celebrate heritage, the Igbo culture and the beauty of Nigeria’s ethnic diversity. I am elated that IIDN could join in financially supporting this year’s event”.

At IIDN, we all know that diversity is Nigeria’s strength. The Uruana Progressive Assembly is a symbolism of that, as the Assembly promotes inclusion, community engagement and philanthropy.

To learn more about our work at IIDN, see here: http://www.iidnigeria.org

Announcement of the Winners of the IIDN Environmental Action Grants Program 2022

The Initiative for Inclusive Dialogue in Nigeria (IIDN) is proud of the work that Nigerian youths are doing to drive environmental protection across the nation. We received numerous applications to our Environmental Action Grants Program, from organizations working in different parts of Nigeria.

After a thorough and meticulous review process, IIDN is pleased to announce the shortlisted organizations. They are:

1.) Trashusers Services (Lagos State) which plans to conduct awareness activities on proper waste management and recycling, to students in select primary schools in Lagos State.

2.) Enyenaweh (Abuja) which proposes to conduct a wide-range research on behavioural norms that foster open defecation in parts of Abuja and then, provide the data to the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Congratulations to the above organizations! They have all received 50,000 Naira each to enable the implementation of their proposals.

Here is a feedback received by IIDN from the President of Enyenaweh, Ms. Jennifer Obado Joel:

“Thank you very much. Up until date, Enyenaweh has been self-funded by the Board of Trustees and by contracts, so IIDN is actually our first-ever grant {provider}. So, thank you for being the first organization to actually provide us a research grant that is not contract-based, that allows us to define a project and work on it and report back to you”.

IIDN wishes to sincerely thank our co-sponsors, the Bluehearts by Messenger Network and the Nigerian Queen Organization for their financial support towards this Program.

(This post was updated as one of the original winners has informed IIDN that the project for which they applied to be funded, had previously been fully funded. They have donated back to IIDN, the N50,000 grant to be used for future projects.)

IIDN in Maritime: 2nd Symposium of the African Marine Environment Sustainability Initiative (AFMESI)

The Initiative for Inclusive Dialogue in Nigeria (IIDN) was the Event Manager of the 2nd Symposium of the African Marine Environment Sustainability Initiative (AFMESI) that occurred on November 6, 2020. That activity was undertaken by IIDN in line with our mandate of promoting sustainable development in Nigeria.

AFMESI is a pan-African, non-governmental organization that has been boosting focus, knowledge and partnerships for cleaner, better protected and sustainably-used marine ecosystems across the African continent. The office of AFMESI is located in Lagos state, Nigeria. The theme of the 2nd Symposium was Marine Pollution Prevention and Control Towards Blue Economy. 

IIDN coordinated the resource persons-mobilisation aspects, ahead of the 2nd Symposium of AFMESI. Speakers at the event were experts in different facets of the maritime sector and were drawn from both the regional (African) and international spheres. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held physically, as well as, accessed virtually.

There were several highlights of the event, including a set of resolutions that were reached to enable better implementation of pan-African collaborations and other vital strategies needed for a strong and healthy African Blue Economy.

IIDN was honoured to have been a part of the 2nd Symposium of AFMESI. Sustainable use of the marine ecosystems in Nigeria and across Africa are vital for ensuring equity, economic development and cultural preservation.

Please see below, the flyer of the past, 2nd Symposium event of AFMESI which contains a nod to IIDN:

IIDN Hosts Virtual Meeting with Stakeholders from Nigeria’s Humanitarian, Media and Development Sectors

Photo (missing a few participants), R - L: Chiamaka Mogo, Chervine Oftadeh, Sandra Ezekwesili, Tomisin Akinade, Ellen Edet

By: Chiamaka Mogo

On October 3, 2020, the Initiative for Inclusive Dialogue in Nigeria (IIDN) hosted a closed, Stakeholders Engagement Meeting with a few representatives from the humanitarian, media and development sectors. The theme of the meeting was — Harnessing inclusive partnerships for Nigeria’s socio-economic resilience. The Meeting was organised with the following objectives:

• Participants will learn from one another on organizational strategies being adopted to build Nigeria’s socio-economic resilience, during this pandemic.

• Participants will show interest in building long-lasting partnerships for the benefit of the grander society.

The Meeting attendees were: Tomisin Akinade (Program Officer, Centre for Advancement of Development Rights (CEADER)), Ellen Edet (Public Relations Officer, IIDN), Sandra Ezekwesili (Host, Hard Facts), Chiamaka Mogo (Founder, IIDN), Chervine Oftadeh (Associate Expert, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Nigeria) and Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi (Executive Director, Stand to End Rape (S.T.E.R) Initiative).

Chiamaka Mogo moderated the Meeting which lasted for about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Sustainable development, human rights and governance:

Tomisin Akinade shared that CEADER has continued to engage with beneficiaries (who are women) of their work through online sessions. The organization has distributed palliatives to some women experiencing hard times,  amidst the pandemic. She also mentioned that the organization hosted an online meeting, specifically targeted at youths and the meeting was aimed at shaping future leaders who can take charge of promoting positive, social attitudes.

Sandra Ezekwesili stressed that talking is a key factor for facilitating societal change. As such, she uses her radio talk show, Hard Facts, as a platform for Nigerians to discuss pressing issues. She added that the show has over 630,000 listeners in Lagos state, Nigeria.

Chiamaka Mogo informed participants that within the past few months, IIDN published a solutions-focused briefing note on the trafficking of Nigerian women and girls. The briefing note also highlighted the compounded affects of the pandemic on victims of trafficking. She mentioned that IIDN interviewed the Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria on the upholding of human rights during this pandemic. In addition, she discussed IIDN’s participation during a consultation session by an Office of the Presidency, ahead of its 2020 Voluntary National Review submission (on behalf of Nigeria) to the United Nations.

Chervine Oftadeh highlighted the value of data in creating policies aimed at tackling crime and meeting the sustainable development goals. As well, he highlighted that UNODC Nigeria is facilitating a network composed of Nigerian counsellors who are volunteering their time and skills. These counsellors are providing professional assistance to persons using drugs and their families. Also, it was shared that UNODC Nigeria has provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to people in prisons.

Osai Ojigho shared on Amnesty International Nigeria’s vigilance to ensure that human rights are not further sidelined in these times. She mentioned that palliative programs have not been fairly implemented, prisoners rights to protection against COVID-19 are not respected, health workers have not been well-compensated and that women and people with disabilities are absent from the leadership of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. It was stated that Amnesty International Nigeria has written to the Attorney General of the Federation to support gender-based violence responders who are actively on stand-by.

Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi stated that S.T.E.R Initiative has conducted community engagements against gender-based violence, in this period of the pandemic. She mentioned that the organization has been working hard to see more acceptance of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act. Also, she added that the lockdown somewhat affected the organization’s service delivery. However, in more recent times, activities have kicked off better. S.T.E.R Initiative is now following up on some court cases.

Future partnerships: 

At the beginning of the Meeting, Chiamaka Mogo mentioned that an expected outcome of the meeting is that stakeholders will identify and discuss possible partnerships, across mutual interests. During the Question and Answer (Q & A) session, such conversations were ignited. (Osai Ojigho excused herself to head for another meeting and Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi was unable to stay further.)

Tomisin Akinade expressed interest in seeing a collaboration between CEADER and Hard Facts through the Host, Sandra Ezekwesili.

On behalf of IIDN, Chiamaka Mogo expressed interest in continuing the dialogue and also broadening the Meeting’s audience (eg. through a webinar event) in the future. She added that IIDN having funding will be a factor to making that a reality; the Board of IIDN will advise on this. She did voice to the Host of Hard Facts, a desire to have a partnership between IIDN and the former, in the near future.

Chervine Oftadeh shared, on behalf of UNODC Nigeria, a request for partnerships with the stakeholders present. Chiamaka Mogo stated that she accepts the request, on behalf of IIDN.

IIDN has connected all participants and will conduct some follow-ups on the partnership interests that were stated.

IIDN’s participation in the consultative forum on Nigeria’s 2020 voluntary national review (VNR) of the sustainable development goals (SDGs)

By: IIDN Public Relations Team

The equitable implementation of the SDGs have been key to the activities of IIDN. The Nigerian Civil Society Organizations Strategy Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (CSOSG-SDGs) had put out a call for nominations for CSOs within Nigeria, to be part of consultations for the nation’s upcoming VNR. The CSOSG-SDGs is attached to the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs). IIDN submitted a nomination and was chosen to participate in the consultations.

On April 27, 2020, IIDN attended (alongside about 30 other CSOs) a virtual consultation session which was focused on select SDGs. IIDN was represented by the organization’s Founder/President of the Board, Chiamaka Mogo. We provided strategic ideas on how Nigeria can better enable the achievement of SDG 1 – “No Poverty”.  During the session, the Founder of IIDN stressed the need to collect more data on the numbers of low-income individuals and families across Nigeria. This will enable the State to be more accountable to all who are in those groups. She had also advised that methods of State-sponsored financial transfers be evaluated, to ensure accessibility for low-income and vulnerable populations. The Founder of IIDN did mention that to further facilitate actions that will bring Nigeria closer to achieving SDG 1, partnerships with CSOs are vital. 

IIDN has thanked the CSOSG-SDGs for selecting our organization to participate in the consultative forum. It was a positive move by the Group, to seek the contributions of CSOs from across Nigeria. IIDN has also expressed interest in a continued partnership.