By Ahmed Ali, Kafanchan
The Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) Project has trained representatives of various community groups in trauma awareness, counselling and community resilience in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The training, organised in collaboration with Carefronting Nigeria, was part of efforts to strengthen existing community structures and equip local actors with skills to identify vulnerabilities, support affected persons and promote peaceful and resilient communities.
The SPRiNG Project is implemented by Tetra Tech with funding from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Speaking during the workshop in Kafanchan, Country Director of Carefronting Nigeria, Mr Maji Peters, said the project was designed to strengthen community frameworks and support local efforts aimed at building resilience and improving livelihoods.
“This is a SPRiNG Project implemented by Tetra Tech with funding from FCDO. What we intend to do here is to strengthen community frameworks, see how we can strengthen resilience in communities and support people who are trying to build resilience and promote and strengthen livelihoods,” he said.
Peters said the programme would also focus on strengthening the living skills of women and youths through community-led identification of vulnerabilities.
He explained that the next phase of the intervention would concentrate on women and youths, stressing that communities must be involved in identifying their own vulnerabilities rather than having outsiders impose solutions on them.
“And why we are doing this is because you cannot come into a community and identify vulnerable people,” he said.
He added that the approach was intended to enable community members to identify their challenges and determine the type of support required to address them.
The training brought together people representing different groups within the community, with participants exposed to issues around trauma, counselling and other activities aimed at strengthening community-based support systems.
The organisers said strengthening local capacity would enable communities to better respond to trauma and other challenges while promoting social cohesion, resilience and sustainable livelihoods.
The initiative is part of broader efforts under the SPRiNG Project to support peace and resilience in communities affected by conflict and other vulnerabilities.
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