…As CHHELD conducts vulnerability assessment on communities
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Centre for Human Rights, Health, Ethnic Harmony and Livelihood Development, CHHELD, has concluded a vulnerability assessment of four oil producing communities in Rivers State.
The group carried out a ‘Participatory Vulnerability Analysis and Participatory Research and Action’ on Sama and Ido communities in Asari Toru, and Obuama and Ipokuma communities in Degema Local Government Areas, with funds from the British Council, European Union and Agents for Citizen Driven Transformation programme.
Among the immediate needs of these communities, according to the assessment, are provision of electricity, prepaid meters, potable water, skills acquisition training and empowerment, construction of public toilets as well as internal roads and drainages.
Executive Director of CHHELD, Mr Dandyson Harry Dandyson, explained that the NEEDS assessment was imperative in order to ascertain the true needs and vulnerabilities of the people, since it was the primary duty of the Local Governments to ensure that the basic needs of the residents in the rural areas are met.
Dandyson said tools used gave opportunity for every member of the community to make contributions and give feedback on the various vulnerabilities affecting them as individuals and as a group, as chiefs, men, women, youths and people living with disabilities had the opportuniry to highlight five vulnerabilities, while an overall aggregate was picked based on the most occuring need across each group.
He further stated that the result from the NEEDS assessment in these four communities have been presented to the Council Chairmen of Degema and Asari-toru LGAs of Rivers State, in order for these needs to be included in the 2023 appropriation bill of the two local government areas.
“NEEDS assessment is a very important process that involves determining the community’s needs and setting criteria for understanding how to best allocate available resources such as money, people, and facilities in order to improve the living conditions of indigenes and residents of targeted communities.”
CHHELD also said the Chairman of Asari Toru LGA, Onengiyeofori George, upon receiving the needs of the selected communities, assured of his willingness to partner with NGOs and International bodies such as the British Council in bringing development projects that will improve the life and livelihood of the people in the area.
“For Sama community, their needs include construction of the community townhall, provision of Electricity and meters, construction of internal drainages in the community to reduce flooding, Provision of potable water, and Interlocking of the community internal roads.
“Ido community needs include fencing of the Community Secondary School,
Provision of electricity prepaid meters, medical equipment and personnel for the community’s health centre, provision of pipe borne water to the sandfield area of the community as well as human capital development, that is, provision of employability skills including grants for SMES, software development, digital marketing, rigging, seamanship, deepsea diving, pipe-fitting, animation, data management, etc.”
CHHELD also dislsoed that the Chairman of Degema LGA, Michael Williams, has agreed to include the needs and vulnerabilities of Obuama and Ipokuma communities in the Council’s 2023 appropriation bill.
According to him, the chairman also encouraged other communities in Degema LGA to follow suit in carrying out vulnerability and NEEDS assessment in their communities, and called on other NGOs and International bodies to also come to the aid of the local government by siting developmental projects for the people.
“The needs of Ipokuma Community presented to the Chairman are, construction of three modern public toilet to reduce open defecation, construction of consulate conference centre to provide a conducive environment for social and other lawful gathering in the community, construction of internal drainage in community to reduce flooding in the areas which include the junior staff quarters, high court quarters, correctional service quarters, etc.
Others are, “installation of solar street lights to drastically reduce blackout in order to discourage criminality at night; human capital development, that is, provision of employability skills including grants for SMES, software development, digital marketing, rigging, seamanship, deepsea diving, pipe-fitting, animation, data management, etc.
“For Obuama community, their needs are, construction of standard market, construction of public toilets, construction of internal drainages in the community to reduce flooding, construction and extension of existing corpers’ lodge to accommodate more youth corpers; human capital development, that is, provision of employability skills including grants for SMEs, software development, digital marketing, rigging, seamanship, deepsea diving, pipe-fitting, animation, data management, etc.”
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