Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre with the support of WOMIN Africa brought together the women of Rivers State to articulate emerging issues in their community under the Comic Relief -Power UpProject. This activity is geared towards women organizing and articulating their demands.
Participants at this session were Okwuzi women group from Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni LGA (ONELGA), Abua women group from Abua/Odual LGA and Ogoni Women groups.
Highlights of the meeting was the preliminary sessions where participants discussed what has been done in the previous year to address those issues that were identified then. During the session on emerging issues participants identified the issue of chieftaincy tussle causing crises in Ogoni land, insecurity as a result of the artisanal refining in Abua/Odual, issues of conflict between youth groups and drug addiction among the youths in Okwuzi as emerging issues. This was followed by the learning exchange which covered discussions and comments where participants gave several suggestions towards addressing the issues that were raised by all communities.
The next session was a group work and presentation where participants took into cognizance current issues and actions to be taken by the various community groups. A story on the recent fire incidence as a result of the activities of the artisanal refining in ONELGA and the tale of the damage and gruesome deaths caused by the fire was narrated by Madam Peace Mgbenwa of Okwuzi community. The meeting concluded with the way forward while an outcome of the meeting was the Action Plan, where the various groups identified areas of intervention and action points for implementation.