By Zubairu Idris
Mercy Corps has trained youth to contribute actively in conflict prevention and peace building especially in crisis-prone communities of Katsina State, under the Conflict Prevention, Crisis Response and Resilience (CPCRR) project.
The project, funded by the European Union (EU) is being implemented in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
The Senior Programme Manager, Mr Philip Ikita, said on Monday in Katsina that they had trained men, women groups, and now the youth, for their active participation during crises in their communities.
He described youth as those between the ages of 18 and 35, who normally participate actively in defence of their communities’ interests.
Ikita revealed that their approach was through encouraging dialogue between the parties involved by looking at the real causes of the conflicts with a view to proffering lasting solutions to them.
He revealed that the training was aimed at promoting locally-driven peace initiatives and preventing conflict through “Interest-Based Negotiation (IBN) and Community and Social Development Resource Management (CSDRM)”.
The senior programme manager, therefore, urged the participants to do more in promoting peaceful coexistence in their respective communities after the session.
The Natural Resource Management Advisor, Mr Paul Mafulul, said that the programme was built on the successes of the previous engagement, “Conflict Mitigation and Community Reconciliation (CMCR)”.
He said that: “the new project seeks to promote long-term peace and stability in the North-west, Nigeria: Katsina and Zamfara States, in particular.”
Mafulul added that during the CMCR, the project worked in Batsari, Jibiya, Danmusa and Kankara local governments of Katsina State and now expanded to Faskari, Dandume, Safana and Sabuwa.
“We have given a platform where if there is any conflict, people can sit down and resolve their grievances amicably,” he said.
In her presentation, the Senior Programme Officer, Ms Lynda Nkechi-Emmanuel, said that the Mercy Corps’ approach to negotiation and mediation was centered on value creation.
“It refers to the process of finding solutions that benefit both parties or at least benefit one of them without making the other worse off,” she said.
She revealed that in negotiation, there should be cooperation, joint problem solving, generating options, finding mutual gains, nothing left on the table and durability.
The officer urged the participants and the public to freely to contact Mercy Corps through Email: info@mcnigeria.com, mobile phone: 0800 4444 1111 (Toll-free Hotline), WhatsApp: 0908 898 8350 and website: www.mercycorps.org., for urgent intervention.
NAN
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