SPONSORED
– Bridges Project Impact Summit turns evidence and lessons into commitments for stronger HCDTs and more effective Petroleum Industry Act implementation
Port Harcourt, Nigeria — The Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), in collaboration with the Ford Foundation, has convened regulators, Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs), oil and gas companies and civil society organizations to agree practical steps for sustaining reforms in host-community governance and advancing implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
PIND’s Bridges Project HCDT Impact Summit, held in Port Harcourt under the theme, “From Evidence to Sustainability: Consolidating HCDT Gains and Advancing Effective PIA Implementation,” reviewed evidence from the project, identified persistent institutional challenges and defined responsibilities for carrying successful practices forward after the project closes.
Rather than serve as a ceremonial close-out, the Summit focused on three questions: What changed? What was learned? What happens next? Participants examined findings from outcome harvesting, the HCDT Impact Evidence Report, case studies and other project knowledge products before working through a Sustainability Clinic on governance, performance tracking, peer learning, stakeholder coordination and capacity strengthening.
Speaking at the Summit, Dr Effiong Essien, PIND’s Programs Director, said the true measure of the Bridges Project would be whether its gains endure beyond the project cycle. “The progress made by HCDTs must translate into stronger institutions, better community participation and more accountable development. Sustainability now depends on stakeholders taking ownership of the tools, relationships and practices that have been built, and committing the resources and leadership required to keep them working,” Essien said.
Through awareness-raising, capacity strengthening and Multi-Stakeholder Platforms, the Bridges Project has supported HCDT operationalization, participatory planning, improved governance practices and stronger collaboration among communities, regulators, settlors and civil society actors. At the Summit, selected HCDTs presented evidence-based accounts of changes achieved at community level and the challenges that remain.
Reflecting on the community-level experience, Mr. Smart Okpara, Chairman of Emuoha HCDT, said the project had strengthened the Trust’s ability to plan, engage stakeholders and account for results. “Bridges has given us practical tools to improve our governance, involve our communities in decision-making and track the results of our development investments. Our responsibility now is to keep using these systems and ensure that the progress continues beyond the project,” he said.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), settlors and civil society organizations also shared lessons and priorities for improving PIA implementation.
Speaking on the regulatory implications, Mr. Kingsley Ehiaguina, Deputy Director, representing NUPRC, said the Summit’s evidence and lessons could strengthen HCDT performance and compliance. “Effective implementation of the PIA requires HCDTs that are transparent, accountable and responsive to their host communities. The lessons emerging from The Bridges project provide a useful basis for improving practice, strengthening stakeholder coordination and sustaining compliance,” the representative said.
The engagement produced a Sustainability Framework assigning proposed responsibilities for continued governance strengthening, monitoring and evaluation, peer learning, knowledge management, capacity development and stakeholder coordination. Participants also validated a communiqué capturing priority recommendations, commitments, responsible actors and next steps.
PIND will consolidate the commitments into an action tracker, circulate the final communiqué and Summit report, and share the project’s evidence and knowledge products with participating institutions. The validated lessons will also inform the Bridges Project’s final impact narrative and future support for HCDTs.
