Kaduna crisis: CSOs trains community leaders on conflict prevention, management
By Austine Emmanuel, Kaduna
Peace building organisation, International Alert, (IA) in collaboration with Global Peace Development, (GPD) has trained at least 50 persons on conflict prevention and management in Kaduna state.
The two-day training on Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th August respectively, is aimed to engage and train community, religious leaders and other relevant stakeholders in a bid for the pursuance of lasting peace as panacea to sustainable growth and development.
In his opening remarks, the Country Director for International Alert, Dr Paul Nyulaku, said the programme will enhance local dispute resolution processes, adding that Collaborative Problem-Based Learning approach suitable for adult learning, will be used in the delivery of the workshop.
Dr. Nyulaku, who was represented by the Senior Project Officer, (IA) Sunday Jimoh, said the trainees will be strengthened on conflict prevention, and management, conflict gender sensitivity, analysis and advocacy.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the event, one of the stakeholders from Sexual Assault Referral Center, Kafanchan, Mrs. Grace Yohanna, said the training will serve as an eye opener for participants, stressing that the networking is going to help reduce conflict to the barest minimum on the ground that facilitators from different fields and experiences were present to take the people throughout the programme.
She disclosed that from their experiences, the idea is to develop the best approach on how to prevent assaults be it on the part of women, children, boys and girls from happening, and not to even manage it because managing it is always difficult on the ground that they go through a lot of difficulties.
Grace said, “We are talking of how we can prevent and not to even manage it but to us from our experiences, it is always difficult because along the line you have a lot of difficulties that we could not even get justice for our survivor and they become victim and even victim for life if care is not taken.
“So with this training, I believe the networking is going to help us and I see people from different fields of experience; so, meaning it’s everybody’s business to say zero tolerance to any form of violence. So our coming together is going to help us. It has a lot of impact that you do not need to know somebody before you help him get justice once violence occur.
“We have reports of assault on the male counterparts too. It’s just that women and children are mostly vulnerable in our society. It’s not as if men are not being assaulted. We have 10 per cent of men that have been assaulted against 90 per cent women and children being assaulted. We have recorded a lot of assaults. In my centre we have recorded 3,108 cases as at July 2023 from inception 2019, when the center was opened,” she said.
Hadiza Ahmadu, who is a participant in the programme from Dangoma in Jema’a LGA, Kaduna state said the programme is highly educative and impactful.
She noted that the lessons learnt will be communicated down to the grassroot including Islamic schools so they can know that peace building in every community is a collective effort.
