NEWS & EVENTS

A One Day Regional Workshop for the Sensitization of Non Profit Organisations on the Nigerian Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)  and  National Conference on the Implementation of Anti Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Standards for the Non Profit Organisations (NPOs) Sector in Nigeria

The theme of the two events is “Effective Implementation of AML/CFT Requirements in the NPO Sector in Nigeria” and were sponsored by the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO), Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), with the support of Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) for the purpose of protecting the sector from money laundering and terrorism and to ensure the sector is doing its work effectively.

It’s been proven that the sector is vulnerable to money laundering and terrorism financing. Therefore, the SCUML team, led by its Director, Mr. Bamanga Bello, took the participants through various topics including:

• Overview of relevant international standards on AML/CFT
• Overview of the Legal, Regulatory and Institutional framework for the implementation of the AML/CFT Requirements in the NPO sector in Nigeria
• Vulnerability of the NPO sector in Nigeria to the ML/TF as identified in the NRA and measures to prevent misuse of the NPOs for ML/FT
• The Role of NGOs in the prevention of ML/TF in the NPO Sector – Panel Discussion
• Question and Answer Section

The Executive Director attended the two events on February 19, and March 28, 2018 respectively.

EPDI has been engaging the students in Melville College for some years now and the impact of our programme has been encouraging. This will be collated in due course.

In March, we had a session with the SS2 students, who had participated in our programme in the last two years. We started with an ‘ORID’ conversation (ICA’s Technology of Participation) to find out what they still remember from our discussions and the effect on them; after which we did a review of some things on character development – the need to be grounded in their beliefs and values now before they are exposed to the wider world. Fifty One Students (20 boys and 31 girls) were in attendance.

Their responses were quite encouraging, knowing that the seeds we are sowing are growing and bringing forth fruit in the lives of these precious teens.

We started a series of talks on Sexuality Education sometime ago with a discussion on My Private and Public Parts. The purpose was to let them know what part of their bodies can be seen and what the parts that are sacred and no one has the right to touch or fiddle with them.

The topic we had in March was The MAIN Rules. Starting with a review on My Private and Public Parts, we went on to explain the MAIN rules. MAIN is an acronym for:

• My body belongs to me and also to God
• Anybody that says I should not talk/report wants to destroy my life
• I will inform my dad and mum about whatever happens to me
• No to anything I feel is wrong

Early March the School organized a cultural show and all children dressed in their native attires displaying the part of the nation they come from.

In January 2017, EPDI Nigeria Executive Director, Hannah Anighoro, participated in the first meeting on January 26-27, 2017 of the South West Zonal Committee of CRUDAN, an NGO membership organisation to which EPDI is a member. Hannah is the Vice Chairperson of the Committee. During the meeting, an introductory training was conducted for members of the Committee by the Chairman, Revd. S. Ajayi, on ‘Church and Community Mobilization Process (CCMP)’. The demand for the programme is on the increase and more facilitators are needed to meet the need. The other modules would be taken in due course, with the next training slated for March 2017.

A second activity was the meeting of stakeholders on ‘Project Experience Dissemination Session (PEDS)’ organized by the Educational Co-operation Society (ECS) on the project it has been implementing on Recuperating Civil Society Space in rural areas of Nigeria. The objective of the project is to strengthen civil society by promoting concerted community processes, which foster community development in equity, and gender equality. The Project Experience Dissemination Session (PEDS) was organised to disseminate experience gained on this project and share best practice amongst social sector actors and partners in social service delivery. The meeting which took place at the ECS Premises (Former Lagos Business School building), Lagos on January 31, 2017 attracted all partners involved in the project, including EPDI, other NGOs and the Media. The need for cross-sector partnerships and continual experience sharing by social sector actors were necessary for enhancing partnerships, sharpening capacity and showcasing activities of partnerships that work with the public.