Language: English
On September 5-6, 2022, the IFIT Middle Belt Brain Trust (MBBT) held a two-day capacity-building training on community grievance management for all the First Class Chiefs of Nasarawa State. The training, which took place at the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Lafia and was organised in collaboration with the Government of Nasarawa State, is part of the MBBT’s wider work to improve grievance management capacities at the community level in the Middle Belt region.
At the training, State Governor Engr Abdullahi Sule stated that the initiative helped promote a culture of peace and harmonious coexistence not only in the Middle Belt, but in the country at large. MBBT Chairman, General Martin Luther-Agwai (rtd.), said that security challenges in the Middle Belt were enormous but with sustained determination and hard work, peace and security would be achieved. He stressed that the failure of existing institutions to manage grievances had become a major conflict driver, as most community-level conflicts that start out as civil disputes escalated to violence and identity conflicts.
The MBBT’s training on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms for traditional leaders (such as ward heads, village heads, and district heads) aims to make grievance management and timely resolution of disputes accessible to disadvantaged, illiterate, rural and dispersed populations, thereby helping to prevent civil disputes from becoming identity conflicts. This effort also aims to increase civic engagement and foster public processes that over time can facilitate broader social and structural change.
Local Media Coverage
On Monday September 5, 2022, IFIT’s Nigeria Middle Belt Brain Trust co-organised with the Government of Nasarawa State the official launch of its latest publication, Ending Violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt: A Strategic Report of Nasarawa State.
At the event, the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, stated that the report “offers a comprehensive picture of the intricate forces causing conflict in Nasarawa State” and that it would “no doubt add to [their] efforts to tackle insecurity through a sustained special attention to matters that border on security and active engagement of all stakeholders”. He assured that the government “would study the report with a view to adopting its recommendations for the benefit of [its] people”.
Based on two years of extensive research and on-the-ground interviews with community members affected by the state’s most important conflicts, the report presents an in-depth analysis of the drivers of violence in Nasarawa State to understand broader dynamics of conflict across the Middle Belt of Nigeria and the spectrum of realistic solutions.
Philanthropic support or annual sponsorship of IFIT’s short and long-term growth – expanding its local, regional and global impact – is an investment in advancing peace, justice and security for all.
As long as human conflict exists, IFIT will have a substantive role to play. The success of peaceful transitions requires continued presence in volatile regions and countries before, during and after peace and political settlements have run their course.
IFIT helps usher in negotiation and transition processes that are more inclusive, resourceful, evidence-informed and collaborative. Ensuring IFIT’s continued leadership in this field will generate reforms to, and eventually bring about the evolution of, traditional peacebuilding techniques which are often fragmented or fall short of aspirations.
IFIT brings together under one roof the best of theory and practice in relation to successful negotiations and transitions out of conflict or authoritarian rule.
We hope this case for support offers the starting point for a deeper conversation regarding how we can work together to move current practice away from fragmented interventions and towards more integrated solutions to strengthen peace, democracy, and human rights.
To discuss your partnership with IFIT please contact Adriana Brassart, IFIT’s External Relations Manager, at [email protected].
IFIT’s Distinguishing Features
IFIT’s uniqueness lies in the following combination of factors:
- Expertise that covers both negotiation and transition processes, whether out of violent conflict or authoritarian rule.
- An emphasis on promoting and harnessing local leadership, local expertise, and local action to advance local solutions.
- An integrated methodology that ensures local partners have easy and organised access to leading global experts on critical policy dimensions of successful negotiation and transition.
- A focus on long-term relationship building and systemic change.
- A philosophy of dialogue and confidential engagement with leaders of all sides in any dispute or conflict.
- A focus on doing gap-filling policy research on controversial subjects.
- A highly cost-efficient and sustainable business model.
Picture: Moises Saman/Magnum Photos
In societies marked by deep social divisions, powerful individuals and organisations play a key role in building up narratives which promote either peaceful engagement or polarisation that can lead to violence. This paper discusses the wide range of actors who have the power to shape narratives at the national level, elaborating them to advance their goals. It proposes practical strategies on how diverse stakeholders—civil society, policy makers and donors, among others—can work with, as well as around, these influential actors to ensure that the narrative landscape advances peace instead of deepening conflict and polarisation.
The paper challenges the view that imposing a new unifying narrative is an effective way to counter polarisation, instead advocating for work that illuminates narrative biases, changes narratives from within and amplifies smaller stories to encourage social engagement at scale. Based on consultations with IFIT brain trusts in Libya, Colombia and Zimbabwe, IFIT’s Inclusive Narratives Practice Group and other leading experts in narrative and politics, it expands on original ideas and recommendations presented in IFIT’s initial narrative framework publication and follow-on discussion paper on media and narrative.
This special session on the Peace Treaty Initiative at European University Institute´s State of the Union summit brings together Sarah Nouwen, member of the initiative’s Expert Advisory Group; Mark Freeman, IFIT’s executive director; Barney Afako, IFIT fellow; and Fleur Ravensbergen, co-founder of Dialogue Advisory Group. They will discuss today’s international peace architecture, look into the incentives to make negotiations a more attractive and safer choice for governments when facing conflicts, and assess the value of the Peace Treaty Initiative for the EU.
Date: Friday, May 6th from 3:00 – 4:00pm CET