A non-governmental organisation, Equal Access International has commenced training for women on how to use cultural diversities to promote security and pacify peaceful co-existence across communities in Nigeria.
The Tech Camp is a five (5) days event with the Theme: ‘Securing Nigerian Communities’, focused on civil security that span across conflict analysis, resolution and peace building and drawn 30 women from four states of Plateau, Benue, Kaduna and Kano who are to undergo five days training commenced from Monday in Abuja.
The training is designed to focus and encourage the participants on the role they can play in building peace and security in their localities; through better analysis of the current security and conflict dynamics and by having access to tools and networks that facilitate increased inclusion of women and youth in peace and security efforts. The training will further help the participants to focus on their assets and capacities, enabling them to envisage their own strengths and skills whilst supporting them with additional skills on the use of media and technology to strengthen communities and to lead the changes we all desire and want to see in our communities.
The participants who spoke to AFRIPOST expressed their satisfaction with Equal Access initiatives and also for being part of the programme and also promised to utilise expected knowledge learnt from the training.
In her response, Achogwa Eneh Gift from Benue State said. “I am here for the training being organised for us by Equal Access International on peace building and security. I have learnt so much about gender equality, peace building and role of women in society building. So far it’s quite interesting. At the end of this training I should be able to talk in my community and they would be able to hear and accept my view as a woman.
“There are so many things going wrong at the rural level. For instance, in the Benue community where I come from, parents don’t give prominence to girl-child education. This is because culturally they feel that whatever a woman becomes in life ends in her husband’s place. To them, training a girl-child in school is a waste. I struggled on my own to go to school up to the University level. My parents are only taking care of the male children and that’s the norm out there. From this training, I should be able to influence change in that belief in my community in Benue South. I am really grateful to be part of this great opportunity, Achogwa said.
“Similarly, another participant, Hadiza Aliyu, from Kano State, said, “I leave in Hausa community in Kano and I must confess that even in this few hours into the training I have learnt a lot on equal role of women in peace building and general involvement of women in societal affairs. I believe at the end of these five days of training, I should be able to make impact in my community when I go back. The biggest problem in my community and Kano State at large is an early marriage of the girl-child and it constitutes 90% of marital issues in the State. At the end of this program, I should be able to influence a change in this area in my community.”
On her part, a participant from Kaduna State, Rahimat Suleiman said, “I live in an environment in Kaduna State where both Christians and Muslims live together but I observed that women are sidelined when it comes to security issues. For instance, when the vigilantes are having meetings, no woman has ever attended or carried along. I could only see men gathered and taking a decision that would affect or bind on the women counterpart too but they are never carried along.
“Conflict is something that we cannot do without; it is inevitable in society so we have to manage it at one point or the other. I am happy to be part of this program. So far, I have learnt how women could be inclusive in security and peace building processes.”
Lucy Jiki, another participant from Gboko, Benue State said, “Equal Access has enabled us to realise the power that enlightened women can use to influence development in the society. They have opened our eyes to be impactful as women in the society and at the end of the program, I will leverage on the knowledge to be impactful especially in the area of peace and security processes”.
In his opening remark, the Deputy Country Coordinator of Equal Access International in Nigeria, Mr. Gad Peter said that Equal Access is building future leaders in women and also moulding them to become models and mentors in order to impact others in their localities.
According to him, “Equal Access is building future leaders. We are happy that we are enhancing and building the capacity of young girls that will go back to their communities and push for social change, inclusive governance, ensuring that women and young girls are participating in decision-making especially when it comes to peace and security in their communities.
“We are going to help them to become positive influencers; we are going to help them to change the narratives of their community; we are going to help them become models and mentors to be able to build the capacity of other young girls and women to be like them.
“We want to ensure the women are part of State Security Council meetings.
“At the end of the program these young girls and women should be able to agitate and advocate for inclusiveness of women in peace and security processes in their respective states. What we are advocating for is a society where the girl child, youths and women will have equal opportunity to participate in decision-making process on peace and security in their localities directly or indirectly.
“We want to see these young girls encouraging peaceful dialogue, constructive and civil engagements in their communities and above all, promoting peace where they are.
Feeding questions on whether there are modalities in place to measure the performances of the trainees, Gad said, “The participants will share their work plans with us and there will be indicators to measure their progress.