Organizational Description
Justice, Development and Peace Initiative, Ekiti Diocese (JDPI) was established in 1972 in response to the Episcopal Commission on Development and Peace’s call that the Church must respond to social issues that affects negatively all men who are indeed the image and likeness of God. As the social arm of the Church, its programs are aimed at supporting the poor to engage
in sustainable self-help income generating activities that will empower them for good living. It volunteers itself as the advocate of the oppressed and assists them to stand up for their rights. Believing in human dignity and an irrevocable solidarity with the less privileged in the State, JDPI has through its projects over recent years impacted positively on the lives of many individuals working through community-based groups. For more than 36 years the Organization has successfully provided life supporting services to the poorest of the poor in the State through its donor supported programs. These include free legal services and civic education to the disadvantaged and oppressed (particularly the unlawfully detained suspects languishing in Ado Ekiti medium security prison), vulnerable women and orphans. Its good governance projects works to make government and public institutions accountable to the people while its Rural Development Project (RDP) promotes organic and sustainable agriculture for conservation and preservation of soil, water, trees and animal as well as boost food security and gainful farming in the area covered. The RDP is technically supported by a growing microcredit scheme which supports farmers and grassroots women to form cooperative groups for self-help in order to boost their economic capacities for faming and other petty economic activities suitable for grassroots dweller. At the moment, it has over 30 volunteers and 14 averagely remunerated staff. It has an averagely equipped office, serviceable vehicles and passionately pro-poor leadership. Presently the Organization is solely funded by MISEREOR, the overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Germany. JDPI shall ever be grateful to MISEREOR Organization for the unquantifiable contributions it has made to the life and wellbeing of the people of Ekiti as well as other people in other places.
