PIND, on October 2, 2019 met with officials of the Ministry of State for Budget and National Planning in Abuja. PIND’s Deputy Executive Director, Tunji Idowu, who led the delegation, explained that the purpose of the visit was to offer assistance to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning based on PIND’s core program areas focused on reducing poverty and conflict in the Niger Delta, and to build on an existing partnership agreement between the Ministry and PIND’s US-based strategic partner, Niger Delta Partnership Initiative, NDPI.
At the meeting, PIND stated its vision, highlighted its work in the Niger Delta region in partnership with Federal and State Governments, as well as how PIND can provide support to the Ministry through data provision and knowledge sharing around issues of youth unemployment, development of agricultural value chains, promotion of appropriate technologies and in effective donor coordination.
PIND urged the Ministry to prioritize its initiatives, create a PIND-Ministry working team, and categorize the areas of partnership interventions in short, medium, and long-terms.