19/08/2026
Webinar Report Summary: Strengthening Festival Safety, Human Rights, and Cultural Preservation in the South-South; Lessons from the Ozoro Intervention in Delta State
Date: 31 July 2026
Hosted by: South-South SGBV Info Hub, with support from Gender and Development Action (GADA)
Meeting Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QsHm_Bb1zgZB_xHt3WGkCJg86l_0UAeW/view?usp=drivesdk
Moderator: Inyingi Irimagha, Coordinator, South-South SGBV Info Hub
On 31 July 2026, the South-South SGBV Info Hub convened a knowledge-sharing webinar to examine the multi-stakeholder response to the sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) incident that occurred during the Alue-Do festival in Ozoro Kingdom, Delta State, on 19 March 2026. The session, supported by Gender and Development Action (GADA), brought together civil-society organisations, traditional and community leaders, and regional partners to document lessons, clarify cultural context, and develop practical strategies for safer, rights-respecting cultural festivals across the South-South region.
Dr. Eka Williams provided the strategic opening, positioning the intervention as a deliberate model of collaborative, context-driven response. She emphasised that GADA and the South-South SGBV Info Hub had played a critical role in initiating and sustaining the process, facilitating regional deliberation, supporting proposal development, and enabling partners on the ground, particularly the Community Empowerment and Development Initiative (CEDI), to design and implement a survivor- and community-centred intervention without displacing local leadership. “As the hub and as GADA, we are excited to be part of the process… we are not taking over from what partners in Delta State are doing; we are there to work together,” she stated, underscoring the Hub’s commitment to learning, amplification, and cross-state application of lessons.
Moderator Inyingi Irimagha framed the discussion by outlining the Hub’s regional coordination function and the pathway from the viral incident to funded action. She highlighted how collective Hub engagement enabled CEDI to secure support from Urgent Action Fund Africa and to pursue a comprehensive response that prioritised stakeholder mapping, legal awareness, and survivor-centred approaches.
Lead discussants presented detailed findings:
Martha Onose (CEDI) documented advocacy visits, a closed-door situational assessment, a participatory rally, and a multi-stakeholder town-hall meeting. The intervention clarified that Alue-Do is a longstanding fertility festival whose authentic intent had been misrepresented and hijacked.
Critical gaps; low VAPP Law awareness and enforcement, single-language festival announcements in a metropolitan setting, and weak protection mechanisms were identified and partially addressed through expanded collaborations with the Ministry of Justice, police, Southern Delta University, and SARC operators. Hotlines were disseminated and expanded SARC access in Ozoro Kingdom were one of the key advocacy asks.
Inatimi Odio of FACE Initiative detailed the participatory development of the Ozoro Festival Safety and Respect Charter. He systematically mapped observed violations against specific provisions of the VAPP Law (sexual violence, coercion, intimidation, deprivation of liberty, harmful traditional practices, and emotional/psychological abuse, among others) and facilitated community-owned strategies organised around communication protocols, policing, crowd control, orientation, stakeholder accountability, and monitoring. The resulting charter is designed as a replicable regional template.
Diolu Tobechukwu Prosper (Lincgreen Initiative) examined narrative construction and the behavioural drivers of the violence. Informal engagements with young people revealed deep-seated objectification of women and girls, the influence of internet-fraud culture, drug use, and opportunity-seeking attitudes among some non-indigene youth. He stressed the necessity of innovative engagement with men and boys and the importance of a documentary that centres survivors rather than community reputation management.
Throughout the session, Inyingi Irimagha provided bridging commentary that reinforced survivor-centred principles, the coordination strength of the South-South SGBV Info Hub’s model, and the reputational and human-rights imperatives of transparent Sexual and Gender Based Violence response by the community.
The open feedback segment featured substantive contributions from Uzoma Kelechi, Egbilika Josiah, Chief Constance Meju, Madam Ebiere Bright, Mr. Bright Oniovokuor, Madam Loretta Ahuokpeme, and Madam Benita Opia of Benny's Development Initiative.
Participants affirmed the linkage between economic drivers (including wire-fraud culture) and SGBV, called for multi-language communication of cultural festivals wit certain restrictions, traditional-leader ownership of the VAPP Law, where these leaders ensure cultural festivities are guided by the VAPP Law, and expanded the discussion to non-cultural festive events, and insisted that survivor well-being must take precedence over community reputational protection.
Key learnings include:
The necessity of establishing authentic cultural context beforeresponse design
The supremacy of existing National and State Laws over custom
The power of multi-level stakeholder engagement in addressing Sexual and Gender Based Violence at Community levels
The dangers of silencing survivors and vicitms of SGBV in order to protect the reputation of the community
The urgent need for innovative men-and-boys initiatives to tackle the scourge of Sexual and Gender Based Violence across communities
The need for geographically equitable SARC access specifically in Ozoro and across Delta State. This can be a learning point for other South-South States.
The value of participatory, VAPP-grounded safety protocols for cultural festivals and other forms of festivities.
The webinar affirmed that culture itself is not the adversary; the absence of rights-based safeguards, survivor-centred safeguarding systems, and accountable institutions is.
Coordinated action by the South-South SGBV Info Hub, GADA, CEDI, and partners has begun to convert a local crisis into a platform for prevention, healing, and replicable practice.
Sustained implementation of the safety charter, expanded service access, rigorous VAPP enforcement, and innovative engagement with men and boys will determine whether the lessons of Ozoro become a lasting regional turning point in the protection of women and girls during cultural and festive life.
Summary prepared by Inyingi Irimagha.
