ActionAid Nigeria partners A’Ibom government, AHDC, CSOs on rural poverty

Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi, yesterday, disclosed that the group has collaborated with the Akwa Ibom State government, the African Human Development Centre (AHDC) and civil society organisations (CSOs) to tackle rural poverty in the state.

Speaking in Uyo at a ceremony to mark the end of its interventions in the state, Ene lamented that the prevalent poverty in the rural communities had forced children and girls into early sexual abuse and teenage pregnancies.

She explained that the poverty level among widows and uneducated women had affected their income and made them incapable of taking care for their children, adding that the challenge had contributed to the menace of out-of-school children in rural communities.  

Working in partnership with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and CSOs, she said ActionAid’s local rights programme had engendered confidence in the poor women to engage in politics and other vocations to enhance their living.

Ene explained that ActionAid started in Nigeria in 2000, adding that it extended to Akwa Ibom in 2007, where much of its activities and advocacy for women liberation in 14 communities spread to Etinan, Mkpat Enin, Oruk Anam and Itu councils.

Chief Executive Officer of AHDC, Prof. Gabriel Umoh, commended ActionAid Nigeria, the ministries of women affairs and social welfare, economic development, agriculture, education, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), among others for partnering with ActionAid to address the challenges of rural poverty in Akwa Ibom State.

He explained that in ActionAid’s work with AHDC in the last 10 years, the group had donated about N100 million with which direct interventions were carried out in education, health, vocational training, agriculture and other areas.

Umoh, who is professor of Agricultural and Development Economics at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), said: “Government alone cannot address the challenges of human development,” hence the need for more private sector participation to lift the people out of poverty.