By Bon Peters
Marking this year’s International Day of Peace 2023, the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Eco, last week in Port Harcourt the Rivers state capital collaborated with the Centre for Gender, Conflict and Gender Studies at the University of Port Harcourt, HYPREP, COFEM & KABETCACHE to host Learning Circle.
This was contained in a press statement issued and personally signed by the president Port Harcourt Eco, Rtn. Dr Anthony Ikpor.
The event, our correspondent reports explored and discussed evident strategies and actions that can contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which focused on promoting peace, a sustainable environment and gender equality.
The statement stated that in an increasingly interconnected world, the need for collective action to address pressing global challenges has never been more evident even as it recognized the urgency of promoting peace, gender equality, and a sustainable clean environment.
The event saw the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Eco, academia, students, peace, gender & sustainability experts, actors, and the media gather together to re(learn) promising ways to engender sustainability in the Niger Delta region.
“This novel and multi-sectoral occasion addressed the complex interplay of peace, gender and environment as critical issues aimed to create a more harmonious and equitable world for all.” the statement maintained.
It would be recalled that the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Eco, during the installation of its 3rd President in September this year launched six sustainability-based projects for the 2023 Rotary year which include “waste to wealth, tree planting, environmental sanitation, sensitization & advocacy, pad a girl, flood protection & succor to victims & safe mother and child.”
The statement added that the essence was Rotary Port Harcourt Eco’s commitment to fostering peace, advancing gender equality, and promoting environmental sustainability, even as the club at the learning circles “sensitized academia and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) include the students on its comprehensive basket of projects that encompasses policy advocacy, grassroots engagement, and innovative solutions that are community-led and trust-based.”
The statement described the Centre for Gender, Conflict and Development Studies as a designated learning institution for graduate students of gender, conflict and development who are passionate about scientific methodologies to generate empirical evidence across gender-related concepts with the overall aim to contribute to the global knowledge production and to solve the problem of gender inequalities.
It also averred that the Learning circles served a dual purpose: to create a space for (re)learning and to share through a supportive community and solidarity of candid discussions.
Continuing, the statement said learning circles may be initiated through a variety of ways, such as community-driven, by faculty, students, and professional experts among others who are interested in leading discussions about their area of interest or expertise.
Explaining further, the statement described some key objectives of the Learning Circle as Peace & conflict resolution which sought to promote peaceful coexistence and conflict resolution through dialogue, mediation and diplomacy even as the club believed that “by addressing the root causes of conflicts and working towards reconciliation, there will be a reduced violence and suffering across the communities we serve.”
Also at the forefront of the club’s project the statement further emphasized, was Gender equality. “Gender equality and women’s empowerment are at the forefront of our community development program. We are committed to dismantling gender-based discrimination and ensuring equity in our intervention approach.”
Noting such include advocating for policies that would support women, men, children and youth participation in community development, leadership roles, education and economic activities.
On the Clean and sustainable environment, the club emphasized its recognition of the urgent need to combat climate change and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region, even as it restates its dedication and commitment to promoting a sustainable and clean environment which involved efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect biodiversity, and ensure access to clean water and sanitation for all.
Valuable key strategies and actions that emerged at the event include, advocacy & policy reform whereby governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations & academia would be engaged to advocate for policies that promote peace, gender equality, and environmental sustainability, including educational awareness, community engagement among others.
Speaking at the Learning Circle, the coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution and Remediation Project, (HYPREP), Prof. Nanibarini Zabbey acknowledged that peace was not a passive concept as mostly projected in general discussions.
In his words “The role of gender equality to achieving environmental sustainability is interwoven and it means that a sustainable development cannot be achieved without peace”.
He continued, “The prevalence of social issues such as inequality directly undermines efforts towards a clean environment”. “Gender equality is just a prerequisite for a peaceful and prosperous world.”. “Gender equality intricately leads to environmental sustainability because it allows for the most inclusive and diverse environmental remediation that addresses the unique needs of everyone.”
Concluding, the statement said, “It is in the words of Prof. Zabbey that we reaffirm the focus of our Club on the environment, knowing that a clean environment stands as a beacon of hope and a catalyst for positive change and community development with a shared vision of a world free from conflict, discrimination, and environmental degradation”.
