SSDO NEWSLETTER, VOLUME 6, ISSUE 4.
Compliments of the Season!
Our strategic objectives over the next five years are to respond to cross-cutting governance issues across the Nigerian geo-political landscape and to expand educational opportunities for the burgeoning youth population. Our project activities over the past few weeks are indicators of the direction we’re headed.
We’ve been deliberate about engaging relevant stakeholders, conducting high-level advocacy visits to key government agencies, as well as being sensitive to the most pressing governance issue in the country presently, the elections. We have been able to play our part with the launch of a new project, Project 100, aimed at sensitizing people about voter education in rural communities, picking up their voters’ cards, and exercising their civic rights.
Another key governance issue we focused on is gender equality and women empowerment. For any society to succeed, women must have equal access to economic and educational opportunities as men. Through, the Sister Guardian Initiative, we’ve been able to advocate more for women’s rights, reduce gender- based violence in our catchment areas, and equip them to be better members of society.
In the last quarter, SSDO has also focused on sensitization rallies, service delivery, capacity building, women empowerment, and advocacy. Here’s a highlight of how SSDO has been contributing its quota to good governance and education.
Sister Guardian Initiative Advocacy Visits to Traditional Rulers
We understand the place of advocacy in seeing a behavioral change in communities. Particularly concerning the reduction of gender-based violence. It helps to promote human rights, social inclusion, equality, and social justice.
Understanding its importance in executing the Sister Guardian Initiative, South Saharan Social Development Organization, SSDO places a premium on advocacy to traditional rulers of Aduachi and Ihenyi communities to ascertain the level of inclusion and participation of women in their cabinet. The traditional rulers confirmed that the women are actively involved in the decision-making processes of the traditional ruling council. So far, courtesy of the program’s advocacy efforts, six communities in Enugu have included women in their Traditional Ruling Councils.
SSDO, ActionAid Hands Over Thirty Desks to Three Schools
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
Marginalized communities are often characterized by a higher prevalence of poverty, lack of infrastructure, and low access to healthcare and education, of which the biggest victims are children. This affects their standard of living and quality of life. There has to be a deliberate focus to improve access to health and education for such communities to improve development.
Understanding this need, South Saharan Social Development Organization in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria through the Local Rights Programme is doing its part to improve education in marginalized communities.
The project provided ten 4-seater desks each for Divine Favour Nursery and Primary School Abor Isiala Community in Isi Uzo LGA, Community Primary School, Oduma Achara, Ani-nri LGA and Community primary school Nkume Community, Uzo Uwani LGA.
SSDO, ActionAid Organizes Sensitization Rally on Climate
South Saharan Social Development Organization is playing its part in creating awareness and sensitizing people on steps to take to combat climate change.
Over the past few weeks, different states have felt the sting of the floods. In as much as the government has a role, we also have a part to play to ensure the earth is habitable and safe. The effect of human activities has a telling effect on the atmosphere.
Hence, the need for sensitization to raise awareness about climate change. The effect of climate change is made evident in drought, erratic rainfall, hotter temperatures, loss of food, and rising sea levels. And nobody is exempted from these devastating effects.
The message was simple:
- Cut down waste
- Conserve water
- Plant a tree
- Walk more
- Spread the word.
Commemoration of Global Handwashing Day at Igbo-Eze North LGA
Global handwashing day is recognized the world over as a day dedicated to increasing advocacy and awareness of the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective way to prevent diseases.
WaterAid Nigeria, in partnership with South Saharan Social Development Organization, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), organized an outreach to two schools to commemorate this year’s event: Township School 1 Ogrute and Community Primary School Ugwu-Amufie both in Igboeze North LGA.
The pupils were taught the six critical times to wash their hands, alongside the techniques for handwashing; this session was facilitated by a state Ministry of Water Resources representative. Handwashing buckets and liquid soaps were presented to the two schools also to promote hand hygiene in the schools.
The visiting team inaugurated the Environmental Health Clubs that had been established and trained by the WASH Unit of the Local Government. The outreach directly impacted 174 students in both schools.
Sister Guardian Initiative Toolkit Development Workshop
One reason why violence against women, especially at the community level, seems to be a non-ending cycle is that often, the perpetrators of these heinous acts are not made to face the wrath of the law. The victims or the community sometimes protect them. And in other cases, victims don’t know how to protect themselves under the purview of the law.
Understanding the place of the law and people knowing their rights in curbing gender-based violence, South Saharan Social Development Organization conducted a one-day workshop for 37 women of the Sister Guardian executives from the 19 communities where the project is currently running. The women comprised the presidents and secretaries of each chapter of the initiative.
The workshop aimed to build the capacity of the Sister Guardians on the provision of the constitution on violence against women and the associated punishment. The Sister Guardian toolkit was also reviewed and unanimously validated for adoption. The Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law was also reviewed to help women be well-rounded in tackling gender-based violence cases.
Going forward, this workshop will better serve the Sister Guardians to better advocate, mediate, and proffer solutions to gender-based violence cases they deal with.
Jacob’s Well Micro-Credit Scheme: Impact That Lasts
Women have a huge role to play in nation-building. Gender inequality, unpaid care, and a largely unskilled women’s group are some issues that hold them back.
Understanding these challenges, South Saharan Social Development Organization is empowering women through its Jacob’s Well micro-credit scheme. The project is helping women achieve financial independence and reduce poverty.grow their businesses. They were trained in financial literacy, risk management, savings culture, and business and cooperative management to help sustain and grow the venture.
A sum of 2.85 million naira was disbursed to these women with no collateral required leveraging the social trust within the cooperative mechanism to ensure compliance across the board.
Women’s Peer Education Training
Through years of working on projects at the community level, we realize that women and girls are hugely disadvantaged. They have often been marginalized and segregated to the background on so many fronts in society. One of the primary reasons for marginalization is the inequality between men and women in accessing and controlling resources.
And as such South Saharan Social Development Organization, in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria, seeks to foster women’s empowerment through peer education. This initiative aims to advocate for women’s rights and bridge women’s capacity deficiency at the community level.
The three-day training was facilitated by the project lead, Perpetual Njoku, SSDO’s Gender Officer, Blessing Uchendu, and SSDO’s Good Governance Lead, Nkem Awachie. The training was executed using the Women Peer Education Resource Kit.
It covered essential areas such as personal development, hygiene, livelihood, nutrition, and inclusion. The women were taught how to mobilize and organize for collective actions, rights and responsibilities, family and community relationships, and well-being.
SSDO Launches Project 100 – Rural Election Drive
Since the inception of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, voter apathy has continued to rise, with a dwindling number of voters at the polls. This has led to massive disenfranchisement, especially in rural areas.
Nigeria’s rural population makes up 48 percent (99 million) of the nation’s size. Still, the rural community is nowhere to be found when it comes to citizen participation and its resultant effect on governance. These communities are characterized by high population density, poor infrastructure, high levels of illiteracy, and extreme poverty.
These factors have negatively impacted the ability of the rural population to participate in nation-building. If about half of the country’s population is shut out fro the dividends of democracy and its processes, it is safe to say policies and government implementation will have an urbanized rather than a truly national impact.
However, for any of these pitiful circumstances to change, it starts with citizens’ active participation in the electoral process in rural communities.
SSDO Commemorates 16 Days of Activism
South Saharan Social Development Organization, SSDO commemorated 16 days of activism to end violence against women and girls under the theme, “Unite! Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls.” SSDO organized a training and workshop session in Afa community, Udi LGA, and Awhandiagu community in Ezeagu LGA.
SSDO’s Gender and Protection Officer, Blessing Uchendu, facilitated the training session in the two communities. She highlighted the need for the inclusion of punishments in bye-laws to reduce violence against women. She stated the importance of women being in leadership and political positions as well as educating the communities on how to handle GBV cases effectively.
Stakeholders at the event include men and women leaders, the police, religious leaders, and youth leaders. SSDO is committed to disrupting and ending all forms of violence against women and girls. It is time to amplify the voices of survivors, reduce and prevent violence against women and girls, protect women’s rights, and seek justice for survivors.
PAWED Advocacy Visits to Government Ministries
To strengthen the capacity of women’s economic collectives in Enugu state, members of the Partnership for the Advancement of Women’s Economic Development (PAWED) coalition embarked on an advocacy visit to various ministries: the Enugu Ministry of Budget and Planning, Ministry of Information, Economic Planning Commission, and Enugu SME Center.
The policy dialogue session leading to the advocacy visit discussed several issues surrounding Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE). After deliberations by stakeholders from different sectors, it was decided that the most urgent issue was “low public awareness of existing economic empowerment opportunities.” The PAWED coalition appealed to the ministry to capture programs and projects that foster women’s economic empowerment in the government budget and expressed readiness to collaborate with the ministry to facilitate a better environment for women. The Honorable Commissioner, Dr. David Ugwunta, noted that the state
He also called their attention to ongoing economic empowerment programs by the government but agreed that there is a need to increase public awareness of existing economic opportunities. He also expressed the willingness of his Ministry to work with the coalition and support advances for WEE.
SSDO, ActionAid Organizes Sensitization Rally on PVC Collection and Voters’ Education
South Saharan Social Development Organization in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria under the Strategic Partnership Agreement II project organized a civic awareness and sensitization rally on the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) collection across Enugu state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) would be ready for collection from the 12th of December 2022 to the 22nd of January 2023. The commission also promised to devolve the collection of PVCs to registration areas and wards from 6th to 15th January 2023.
The rally aimed to encourage people to pick up their PVCs, go out and vote, and protect their vote as active citizens of the country which is well within their civic rights.
