A two-day forum on poverty reduction issues and partnership towards addressing them is scheduled for November 21 and 22 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The forum titled: 'Supporting Poverty Reduction through Partnership', being organised by the Foundation for partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) is intended to serve as a platform to improve understanding and generate interest in the approaches, strategies, and partnerships that can enable systemic changes for poverty reduction and equitable economic growth in the Niger Delta.

Coordinator of the development forum, Micah Mendie, said "The overarching aim of the forum will be to demonstrate how strategies which integrate research, advocacy, economic development, capacity building and peace building programmes can be systemic enablers of economic growth.

He added that "good case study examples of how market systems are working in Nigeria and around the world will be presented to inform and influence the way that local institutions think about and approach economic development in the Niger Delta region."

The sub-themes of the forum will focus on economic development, capacity building and peace building with target audience drawn from three broad categories. One audience will be development practitioners who will want to learn new ideas about their work from other examples.

Another audience will be stakeholders who want to contribute towards poverty reduction in the Niger Delta, but don't have the experience or understanding of the models and approaches needed to promote equitable economic growth. The other audience will be from Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) who are interested in establishing an enabling environment for economic growth and poverty reduction.