PPDF Launches Project to Defend Community Rights in Niger Delta

The Peace Point Development Foundation (PPDF) has launched a two-year project designed towards defending community rights in the Niger Delta region.

The project, titled “Building Community Right Defenders in Niger Delta,” is being implemented in partnership with the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.

The project seeks to train and strengthen community rights collectives in the Niger Delta as a transformative pathway to achieving environmental and climate justice.

According to the project’s goals, 100 community activists, including youth, women, and fishfolk, will be trained across target communities in Akwa Ibom and Cross River states to understand and apply environmental justice tools, legal instruments, and participatory advocacy mechanisms rooted in the Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence (NDAC) Manifesto and the Nigeria Socio-Ecological Alternatives Charter (NSAC).

According to the statement signed by the Coordinator of Peace Point Development Foundation, Comrade Umo Isua-Ikoh, the project will also strengthen and expand grassroots networks, such as the FishNets Alliance, Women’s Eco Defenders, and Youth Environmental Justice Ambassadors, in both states, supporting coordinated resistance against ecological threats.

The statement said the project will document and amplify community resistance narratives using digital storytelling, radio, and social media to raise awareness, challenge dominant narratives, and influence policy responses.

The statement said the key objective of the project is to promote participatory and accountable environmental governance, especially in resource-endowed areas.

Isua-Ikoh added “By empowering community rights defenders and promoting environmental justice in the Niger Delta which has almost become a conquered territory through resource greed, the project aims to contribute to a more just and equitable society in the Niger Delta region.

“Through this initiative, PPDF and HOMEF hope to make a lasting impact on the lives of communities in the Niger Delta, ensuring that their rights are protected and their voices are heard.”