PIDE’s programs are currently focused on five priority areas - HIV & AIDS Intervention, General/Primary Health Care, Education, Economic Empowerment/Poverty Alleviation and community development

•  HIV & AIDS INTERVENTION

PIDE’s focus in this program area is on prevention and mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS in the rural/hard to reach/vulnerable communities in Developing Countries, starting with Sub-Saharan Africa. Activities covered include but not limited to the following:

a.  Provide preventive education, influence change in behavior, improve adolescent communication for in-school and out-of-school youths and hard to reach youths, as well as high risk population.

b.  Promote knowledge of HIV status among the general population, through free HIV Counseling and Testing in our field offices and community outreaches.

Free HIV testing at Gunduma community Nassarawa state

Free HIV testing for students of Delta State University, Oleh campus

c.  Provide comprehensive Care and Support services for the infected and affected. This support services focused on providing psycho-social support, adherence counseling, nutritional support, referral system to antiretroviral treatment sites.  We also provide public transportation to transport HIV/AIDS patients (living in the interior and hard to reach rural communities) to treatment locations.

d.  Advocate for the rights and privileges of people living with HIV/AIDS through initiation and mentoring of Support Groups and provision of other necessary support assistance to members.

e.  Provide health education and social support to Orphans and other Vulnerable Children.

•  GENERAL HEALTH AND PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

Our focus in primary and general health care delivery is to contribute towards enhancing access to quality health care services for poor rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. This will enable us to strengthen primary health care facilities, hospitals and clinics, improve the capacity of community health workers by training and providing free medical outreach programs as well as equipping clinics with essential equipment; etc.

•   EDUCATION

There are challenges of providing appropriate education and relevant skills to rural youths in developing countries, especially in African countries.  Some of the challenges necessitate a basic education that motivates them to study, creation of a training program that provides them with skills for the labor market, and availability of opportunities for some of them to pursue higher education, vocational training schemes and so on.

Our focus in this program area is to contribute towards strengthening the education sector and training systems by;

a.  Improving the quality of basic education through; educational infrastructural development, training and capacity building for school teachers and provision of scholarship to poor and vulnerable population.

b.  Promoting learning and skills for young people and adults through exchange programs, social education activities and programs; provision of life building skills to young people and adults, establishment of community skills development centers, leadership trainings, provision of vocational skills as a strategy for acquiring both practical and psycho-social skills.

c.  Providing adult literacy training programs, especially for rural communities

d.  Developing and implementing programs that provide second chances for out -of- school youths to get back into school or into informal training courses, and/or illiterate youth into literacy programs.

•  ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND POVERTY ERADICATION

The PIDE economic empowerment and poverty alleviation program seeks to identify the causes of poverty and hunger and factors fueling the trend in target communities. The program then utilizes this information to design community/target population specific interventions that adequately address these issues with a view of promoting economic independence and improving household sustainability. Depending on target population and location, our strategies include but not limited to;

a.  Vocational skills training that foster economic independence of poor vulnerable groups through small businesses

Some of the beneficiaries of vocational skills training Learning fashion designing

One of the beneficiaries of  economic empowerment learning hair dressing skills with teaching aids

b.  Provision of starter packs and equipment to skilled individuals and groups and technical support/mentoring

c.  Provision of seed grant that promote small private businesses

One of the  young out of school girls economically Empowered by PIDE in collaboration with Delta state Ministry of Women Affairs

UNFPA Program Adviser during formal presentation of starter packs to beneficiaries of PIDE/World Bank assisted empowerment project

d.  Provision of training, access to technical assistance and equitable market for rural farmers and small businesses

•  COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND OTHER COMPLEMENTARY PROGRAMS

This program area is interlinked with the economic empowerment and poverty alleviation program, and also a major cross cutting issue in all other PIDE programs. It is however separated in view of its tremendous importance to the entire community and society at large.

Our focus in this area is to utilize the right based approach and advocacy activities in addressing development issues and challenges faced by rural communities. Through surveys and research, we were able to identify activities and/or programs that help to develop the needs of target communities.  The result of our efforts is shared with stakeholders while empowering community members on the right based approach and advocacy strategies that will enhance results in their demand for development.

PIDE field staff administering household questionnaires. During a community needs assessment survey in Nassarawa state

Rural water project in Delta state with support from The OMO Group Inc. San Antonio, Texas, USA

PIDE also utilizes cultural and community sensitive Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials and strategies to sensitize communities on current development issues. We are seeking external funds to directly respond to some of the developmental needs of target communities, especially in the area of water and sanitation. Our 2008 rural water and sanitation project is currently being implemented in 4 communities located in 2 Local Government Areas of Delta state with funding from Mr. and Mrs. Omosowofa and The OMO Group Inc. We shall collaborate with organizations interested in rural water projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.

For details of specific projects implemented on each of the above program areas, click on Projects and Reports