PIND Celebrates Ten Years of Economic Development and Peacebuilding in Nigeria’s Niger Delta with Virtual Events

New Social Media Challenge to Award Prizes for Participants Sharing Local Impact Stories

ABUJA, Nigeria & WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) celebrates its 10th founding anniversary and announced several exciting commemorative virtual events, hosted from Nigeria and featured on www.PINDis10.PINDfoundation.org. The anniversary events kicked off with a fun #MyNigerDelta Social Media Challenge, asking residents to create a one-minute social media video that highlights progress in their Niger Delta community. The challenge deadline is Friday, November 5, 2021, with three prize packages to be awarded to eligible winners. Other celebratory events include a virtual photo exhibition featuring stunning photos from the Niger Delta.

• Wednesday, October 27, 2021, from 2-4 p.m. WAT (9-11 a.m. ET): Attend the “Reimagining Corporate Social Investments” virtual roundtable featuring local and international oil companies, civil society organizations, government stakeholders, development partners, educational institutions, and big corporations in the Niger Delta.
• Thursday, November 4, 2021, from 2-3:30 p.m WAT (9-10:30 a.m. ET): Watch our new virtual documentary screening entitled “A Decade of Making a Difference in the Niger Delta.”
• Thursday, November 11, 2021, from 6-8 p.m. WAT (1-3 p.m. ET): The PIND 10th Anniversary Virtual Awards & Gala Night streaming from Abuja, Nigeria.

“The themes of our anniversary celebration align with our programmatic goals and successes since 2010,” said PIND’s Executive Director Tunji Idowu. “They are reducing poverty, powering coastal communities, nurturing employment and inclusivity—especially women and youths, fostering stability and conflict resolution, and enabling market development for local organizations.” Nigeria-based PIND and its operating partner, U.S.-based Niger Delta Partnership Initiative (NDPI), have had a major impact on Nigeria’s 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.

“Our major program areas are the sustainable reduction of poverty and conflict,” said PIND’s immediate past Executive Director Dr. Dara Akala. ”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) network.

PIND Board of Trustees Chairperson Rick Kennedy said, “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. 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 NDPI will complete their third phase of development in 2024 and are looking ahead into the fourth phase (2025-2029) to surpass programming goals for the residents and communities of the Niger Delta—with the support of strong partnerships and collaboration.

Learn more about the 10th Anniversary celebration at www.PINDis10.PINDfoundation.org.

About PIND

The Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) is a Nigerian nonprofit organization established in 2010 with initial funding from Chevron to promote peace and equitable economic growth in Nigeria's Niger Delta region by forging multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder partnerships at the regional, national, and international levels. PIND works closely with numerous partners to implement collaborative market-based, community-owned programs to mitigate conflicts and boost economic opportunities for local businesses, ensuring that economic progress occurs in a systemic, inclusive, and sustainable manner. PIND’s U.S.-based operating partner is the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative (NDPI). Learn more about us PINDfoundation.org or NDPIfoundation.org.