Mr Harrison Udim, Project Lead, SEA-P project at Youth for Change and Social Life Development Foundation, flanked by other team members addressing a press conference on Saturday 5th August at conference hall, Youth Alive Foundation, Esuene Street, Uyo.
Abasifreke Effiong
Youth for Change and Social Life Development Foundation (YOFCI) has announced the completion of its Strategic Engagement and Advocacy for 2023 Peaceful Election, SEA-P project in Akwa Ibom State.
The completion of the project which started in November 2022, was announced by the SEA-P Project Lead, Mr Harrison Udim at a press conference on Saturday 5th August, in Uyo.
Mr Udim said the project which aimed to raise citizens’ awareness, voices, and actions on conflict sensitivity and violence before, during, and after the 2023 general elections, was funded by LEAP Africa, and was implemented under the Nigeria Youth Future Fund (NYFF), jointly supported by FORD Foundation and MacArthur Foundation.
The SEA-P project which was implemented in communities across six violence flashpoints local government areas cutting across the three senatorial districts of the state equipped residents with information on how to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner all through the election period to avoid conflict and violence.
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The local government areas were Itu, Ibiono Ibom, Onna, Eket, Essien Udim and Ini.
According to Udim, “the project promoted the collection of PVCs across the state, encouraged active citizen participation in voting on designated election days, tracked and reported incidents of violence in spotlight communities for immediate interventions, and mitigated incidence of violence through strategic stakeholder engagement and communication across the state.”
The Project Lead noted that through collaborations with other civil society organisations, the media and other clusters of stakeholders, the SEA-P project helped to foster citizens’ active participation in the electoral process, peaceful electoral processes, producing less violent outcomes, especially when compared to the initial reports that identified those LGAs as possible hotspots for high election violence and conflicts.
Some of the activities carried out by YOFCI under the SEA-P project include, media brief during the flag off of the project; inception meeting with CSO partners, and media partners; production of information, education and communication materials for awareness creation; stakeholders’ engagement in project target locations; governorship candidate peace pact signing during the Akwa Ibom State governorship debate; post-election outcomes media briefing; and post-election media engagements on several media house platforms.
Mr Udim thanked LEAP Africa and the NYFF project team for the confidence on YOFCI to deliver on the project’s goal, while appreciating FORD and MacArthur Foundations for their huge support to the NYFF project.
