By Aluta News
Nov. 01, 2021
ActionAid Nigeria, an international NGO on Monday began training of stakeholders in Nasarawa State on conflict management towards preventing violent extremism.
The stakeholders under the aegis of State Conflict Management Alliance (SCOMA), comprised of representatives from civil society, security agencies, the traditional institution, religious groups, youth and women groups among others.
Speaking at the opening of the two-day training in Lafia, Mr Anicetus Atakpu, Resilience Programme Coordinator of ActionAid Nigeria, said that SCOMA was part of its System and Structure Strengthening Approach against Radicalisation to Violent Extremism (SARVE II) project in Nasarawa State.
The SARVE II project is being implemented in Nasarawa State by ActionAid Nigeria in partnership with Global Peace Development (GPD) and Beacon Youth Initiative (BYI) with funding from Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF).
He said the alliance was established to support issues of security and peace building initiatives in the state.
“The idea is to see how to infuse civil society, the voice of the common man in the security council in the state for informed decision making to enhance security.
“SCOMA is part of the sustainability measure for the SARVE II project in Nasarawa State,” he said.
Atakpu said that the workshop was meant to build the capacity of participants to be able to carry out their peace building and conflict management responsibility in the most professional manner.
He said that ActionAid under the SARVE II project was able to train 750 youths in various skills and provided them with starter packs in order to make them gainfully engaged and reduce their vulnerability to violence extremism.
He said 1,500 youths were trained as Peace Ambassadors in their communities following three consecutive Peace Camps organised by ActionAid Nigeria and its implementing partners.
Also, Mr Ebruke Esike, Executive Director, GPD, and convener of the alliance said it was meant to support community surveillance, early warning and early response to mitigate insecurity in Nasarawa State.
He noted that the workshop would help equip the participants with the knowledge to better collate early warning information and response in order to manage conflicts.
NAN