The resolve of Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) to continue with its push for a better society in Rivers State, especially, for women, youths and persons living with disability (PWDs) is not showing signs off ebbing anytime soon.

In line with its objective of working with communities and other relevant stakeholders in the Niger Delta to identify and implement solutions to challenges in governance, environment, security and the economy, the SDN had initiated the We You Project which culminated in the launching of the Women and Youth Agenda(WAYA), a collection of demands aimed at addressing the issues of under-representation and non-inclusion in politics and governance for vulnerable groups like women, youths and PWDs.

The historic document which is a product of online consultations and targeted interface with stakeholders across 24 communities in four selected local government areas in Rivers State, was escalated to election candidates and leaders of several political parties in the buildup to the 2023 elections with the hope that it would be absorbed into party manifestos and campaign promises.

To consolidate on the gains of the We You Pro and WAYA, SDN unveiled the Deepening Accountability and strengthening Inclusion(DASI) project at a two-day workshop, which was held on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th October 2023.

The workshop which brought together a fine mix of persons from civil society organisations, community representatives, PWDs, women and youth groups and the media was designed to sharpen the skills of participants on policy advocacy, power mapping and strategy development as well as to review the current trend of things and how it affects marginalized groups.

SDN`s Senior Project Officer, Flora Asieri said the workshop is a precursor to the DASI project.

“The DASI project builds on the successes of the just concluded FCDO elections project and follow up demands as captured in the needs charter of the Women and Youth Agenda”, she noted.

Stakeholders at the workshop were divided into four groups with specific policy demands to focus on. The first group was mandated to brainstorm on legislation that would help to achieve 35% representation of women in elected and appointed positions in government.

Another group was asked to work on the adoption of the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) 2018 by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The leader of the group, who is also the State Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disability, Kie Obomanu, said the focus of PWDs will be to achieve the domestication of national disability laws in Rivers State.

He said: “We are looking forward to having a replica of the National Disabilities Act in Rivers State. Although we have the Rivers State Disability Welfare Enhancement Law of 2011, we need to do an amendment of that law so that it can be implemented.”

The third group was assigned with the Review and implementation of the youth policy in Rivers State

The final group was saddled with the responsibility of ensuring tax accountability through pushing for transparency in the use of public funds and advocating for the harmonization of multiple taxes.

Leader of the group who is also the Rivers State coordinator of the Tax Justice Platform, Amaechi Kelechi, said workshops like this “empowers social actors with the required skills to engage state actors from the point of knowledge”.

“You can’t begin to advocate for fair and progressive taxation when you don’t understand the issues around taxation”, he said.

DASI is another valued contribution of the SDN towards the social and political engineering for a better life for the people of the Niger Delta and especially Rivers State. The project is sponsored by the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office of the United Kingdom.