The British Council has signed a new four year contract awarded by the EU worth €21m.
The new programme, Managing Conflict in North East Nigeria (MCN), will enhance the capability of state and community level conflict management to prevent the escalation of conflict into violence. The programme will be implemented in a number of locations across North-Eastern Nigeria, specifically within the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
In order to meet its agreed objectives, MCN will work closely with a number of stakeholders to:
- strengthen community level conflict management mechanisms
- enhance reconciliation and stability within communities, in particular those affected by displacement
- support the involvement of women in peace-building and address the impact of violence on women and girls
- enhance the reintegration of young men and women affected by and involved in insurgency and counter-insurgency operations
- influence key decision-makers and opinion-formers through targeted research.
The list of expected stakeholders includes the individual state governments and local government authorities, community leaders (districts and ward heads), and security agencies operating at the community level. This is mostly the police, civil defence, vigilante groups, civil society groups and university research institutions.
Potentially, MCN could benefit the seven million plus residents inhabiting the three states. However, more realistically, the programme anticipates its efforts will result in 31,000 direct beneficiaries and 2.2 million indirect beneficiaries.
Alongside improved conflict management mechanisms, enhanced opportunities and possibilities for re-integrating displaced people, and an overall improved conflict prevention policy and practice, expected outcomes of the MCN intervention could result in:
- broader participation from society in conflict management mechanisms at state and local level
- new systems and mechanisms to help identify and respond to violence against women and girls (such as peace clubs, Sexual Assault Referral Centres, and Family Support Units)
- communities becoming more sensitised to the issue of Sexual and Gender Based Violence
- increased and more influential participation from women and girls in institutions and initiatives relevant to peace-building
- enhanced possibilities for young men and women to participate in economic activity.
At this point, we are at the early stages of the programme and will provide further updates as the programme begins to move forward towards the implementation phase.
June 2017
