In ensuring that the Okigwe Senate Re-Run Election becomes free and fair, the Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has continued to partner with Independent National Electoral commission (INEC), Imo State towards making sure the election goes according to the tenets of democracy.

CCIDESOR noted that the needed awareness and sensitization as the election draws near close must be heightened so that citizens who are the real beneficiary of good governance are adequately kept abreast of the update of the election so that no one is disenfranchised in the election.

CCIDESOR urges citizens to vote for candidate of their choice without having to be coaxed to voting for somebody who has not convinced them of his/her availability, adding that they should vote for candidate whose campaign promises are tangible, accessible and realistic and not those who make bogus promises without plan of achieving them.

‘It is an era of realistic campaign promises and the need to understand that political decisions determine economic well-being of the citizens is key in every election, while urging citizens to come out en-masse and exercise their fundamental rights’, CCIDESOR submitted.

As the international Day is being celebrated every year, Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has called on leaders of the country to celebrate the event with transparency, accountability and citizens’ inclusiveness in mind.

CCIDESOR posited that there should be democracy metre to gauge the performance of elected representatives along the line of their campaign promises, stressing that some elected representatives have left their campaign promises with which they won elections, which if seen, is democratic deceit and needs to be brought to track using the gauge.

There is therefore a need for deliberate effort in educating the political parties on the importance of keeping campaign promises in ensuring accountability and good governance, civic education on the side of citizens and constituents on how to engage people seeking their vote constructively.

CCIDESOR posited that until the elected representatives begin to adhere strictly to the campaign promises upon which good governance is achieved especially in the face of the COVID-19, the realization of good governance will be wide goose chase.

As the World Humanitarian Day is being celebrated, Citizens Centre For Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has provided life saving information like posting issues on social media platforms, newspapers among others of how to stay safe, various means through which the COVID-19 could be contacted.

CCIDESOR believed that the community member needed to be abreast of what it took to stay away from crowd, maintain social distancing, washing of hands and other non-pharmaceutical measures needed to stay safe and CCIDESOR has provided those intangible supports to citizens through her various social media platforms.

In this celebration, the world commemorates humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work, and we honour all aid and health workers who continue, despite the odds, to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need.

Indeed, this year World Humanitarian Day which holds every 19^th August  continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic over recent months. Aid workers are overcoming unprecedented access hurdles to assist people in humanitarian crises in 54 countries, as well as in a further nine countries which have been catapulted into humanitarian need by the COVID-19 pandemic. CCIDESOR urged the government at all levels to encourage those doing one humanitarian work or another, especially the health workers, CSOs, development workers, journalists by improving their condition of work as those will motivate them to serve better

As the Federal Government increases the prices of fuel and electricity consumption, Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has noted that the hike is not for the interest of the citizens, especially that the effect of COVID-19 is still biting hard.

CCIDESOR urged the Federal Government to think of more ways to support the citizens to enable them cushion the effect of the pandemic that has dealt a big blow on the citizens, adding that what is expected is that the federal at all levels should come up with palliatives for the citizens.

CCIDESOR posited that much as the decision of the federal government intends to check corruption by the removal of subsidy, the citizens should not feel that the federal government is not unmindful of the plight that the pandemic has thrown them into.

The Civil Society Organization called on the federal government to rescind its decision for the interest of the citizens, as the hikes will further increase the challenge the citizens are facing in terms recovering from the effect of the COVI-19 pandemic. 

As the world celebrates 2020 International Literacy Day 2020 which focuses on “Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond,”, Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has called for more teachings  in the face of the COVID-19.

CCIDESOR noted that apart from the educators, stakeholders both state and non state actors join in the literacy train. The theme highlights literacy learning in a lifelong learning perspective, and therefore, mainly focuses on youth and adults. The recent Covid-19 crisis has been a stark reminder of the existing gap between policy discourse and reality: a gap that already existed in the pre-COVID-19 era and negatively affects the learning of youth and adults, who have no or low literacy skills, and therefore, tend to face multiple disadvantages. During COVID-19, in many countries, adult literacy programmes were absent in the initial education response plans, so most adult literacy programmes that did exist were suspended, with just a few courses continuing virtually, through TV and radio, or in open air spaces.  What is the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on youth and adult literacy educators and teaching and learning? What are the lessons learnt? How can we effectively position youth and adult literacy learning in global and national responses and in strategies for the recovery and resilience-building phase? 

By exploring these questions, International Literacy Day 2020 provides an opportunity to reflect on and discuss how innovative and effective pedagogies and teaching methodologies can be used in youth and adult literacy programmes to face the pandemic and beyond. The Day will also give an opportunity to analyse the role of educators, as well as formulate effective policies, systems, governance and measures that can support educators and learning. 

Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR)  has Joined the world to celebrate International youth Day, while Urging for Engagement for Global Action

The theme of International Youth Day 2020, “Youth Engagement for Global Action” seeks to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes, as well as draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.

As the United Nations turns 75, and with only 10 years remaining to make the 2030 Agenda a reality for all, trust in public institutions is eroding. At the international level, against the backdrop of an increasingly polarized world, the international system of governance is currently undergoing a crisis of legitimacy and relevance. In particular, this crisis is rooted in the need to strengthen the capacity of the international system to act in concert and implement solutions to pressing challenges and threats (examples include some of the worst contemporary conflicts and humanitarian emergencies, such as Syria and Myanmar, as well as global challenges, such as the COVID-19 outbreak and climate change).

Enabling the engagement of youth in formal political mechanisms does increase the fairness of political processes by reducing democratic deficits, contributes to better and more sustainable policies, and also has symbolic importance that can further contribute to restore trust in public institutions, especially among youth. Moreover, the vast majority of challenges humanity currently faces, such as the COVID-19 outbreak and climate change require concerted global action and the meaningful engagement and participation of young people to be addressed effectively.

This year’s IYD seeks to put the spotlight on youth engagement through the following three interconnected streams: Engagement at the local/community level; Engagement at the national level (formulation of laws, policies, and their implementation); and Engagement at the global level.

As the Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) monitors the third quarter of the cash transfer to beneficiaries in Anambra State as Third Party Monitor (TPM), it has recorded success stories from some beneficiaries who appreciated the federal government for the program.

 A success story of a young girl of about 18 years shows that many of the beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer are transforming their financial status already.  Ms. Esther Eziechina, who serves as an alternate for her mentally unbalanced mother narrated how she continued saving every kobo from the conditional cash transfer through her father, she was able to save one hundred and fifteen thousand naira (N115,000), because she had the burden to buy a cassava processing machine to help her community members who go very far to other community to grind cassava. She wanted a processing machine close to her people, her father hearing her plans decided to support her with the balance to get the machine. From that cassava machine, she was also able to buy more machines for extracting oil from palm fruits. Through these machines, she recovered the borrowed money from her father but her father asked her to keep the loan as part of his support to the good thing she was doing. She also mentioned that the other loans she took to set up her processing business, she has been able to repay them all. She appreciates the federal government for bringing “better don come” her way and she prays it extends to others.

Another beneficiary in Umunze ward III, name Helen Ofor narrated how she started her poultry business with the external support of the federal government and makes extra profit.

Another beneficiaries in Iyiafor in Okpoghota ward told the TPM that she built a kitchen, bought a large acre of land where she planted maize and cassava for commercial purposes. She commended the federal government for the support and urged it not to stop. The videos have uploaded to the CSOs/ZTLs platform. Some beneficiaries were not doing anything before the external support started but narrated how their individual businesses have improved by sole reason of the external support. They are grateful to the federal government.

Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has joined the world to celebrate the world population day, while calling on stakeholders to  increase people’s awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights

CCIDESOR noted that women disproportionately work in insecure labour markets and are harder hit by the economic impacts of COVID-19. Nearly 60 percent of women worldwide work in the informal economy, at greater risk of falling into poverty. Women’s unpaid care work has increased as a result of school closures and the increased needs of older people.

The pandemic is hitting marginalized communities particularly hard, deepening inequalities and threatening to set us back in our efforts to leave no one behind. Our response to COVID-19 in every country is critical and will determine how fast the world recovers and whether we achieve the Sustainable Development Goals or not.

The Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has joined the rest of the world to mark the World Environment Day.

CCIDESOR has called for increased preservation and protection of nature, especially that they are calling continued  engagement with the governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue.

‘The foods we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that makes our planet habitable all come from nature. For instance, each year, marine plants produce more than a half of our atmosphere’s oxygen, and a mature tree cleans our air, absorbing 22 kilos of carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen in exchange. Despite all the benefits that our nature give us, we still mistreat it. That is why we need to work on that. That is why we need this Observance’.

This year, the theme is biodiversity – a concern that is both urgent and existential. Recent events, from bushfires in Brazil, the United States, and Australia to locust infestations across East Africa – and now, a global disease pandemic – demonstrate the interdependence of humans and the webs of life, in which they exist.

Biodiversity is the foundation that supports all life on land and below water. It affects every aspect of human health, providing clean air and water, nutritious foods, scientific understanding and medicine sources, natural disease resistance, and climate change mitigation. Changing, or removing one element of this web affects the entire life system and can produce negative consequences.

Human actions, including deforestation, encroachment on wildlife habitats, intensified agriculture, and acceleration of climate change, have pushed nature beyond its limit. It would take 1.6 Earths to meet the demands that humans make of nature each year. If we continue on this path, biodiversity loss will have severe implications for humanity, including the collapse of food and health systems.

The emergence of COVID-19 has underscored the fact that, when we destroy biodiversity, we destroy the system that supports human life. Today, it is estimated that, globally, about one billion cases of illness and millions of deaths occur every year from diseases caused by coronaviruses; and about 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases in humans are zoonotic, meaning that they are transmitted to people by animals.