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Omeiza Ajayi & Fortune Eromosele, Abuja

A coalition of youth groups under the aegis of Grassroots Youth Coalition on Peace and Security, has called on the Federal Government to domesticate the United Nations Security Council, UNSC Resolution 2250 in the country.

The UN Security Council had on December 9, 2015 unanimously adopted a ground-breaking resolution on Youth, Peace and Security which recognizes that “young people play an important and positive role in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security”.

The Youth Coalition in collaboration with Technoworld Community Foundation and Centre for Peace, Democracy and Development (UMASS) Boston, made the call at a media parley on the domestication and implementation of UNSC Resolution 2250 on youth, peace and security in Abuja.

The text of their address was jointly signed by the National Coordinator, Dr Umar Ali, Secretary General, Mallam Umar Farouk Mohammed, Technical Adviser, Dr. Benjamin Ojemire Daniel, Dr. Abdulkadir Ahmed Jogana, Comrade Adebogun Dayo and others.

According to Mallam Mohammed, the documentation would promote peacebuilding of the nation.

According to the coalition; “It is urgent to shift from reactive to proactive and anticipatory response. It is essential to step up preventive approaches that can enable holistic and integrated solutions in addressing the insecurity challenges in Nigeria.

“It is time we invested more in peacebuilding by applying innovative solutions capable of addressing challenges in range of societal sectors and ensuring continuity of our political, economic and social structures. It is time we stopped picking up the pieces and start putting an end to the cycles of violence.”

The Coalition urged the federal government to implement the recommendations on “Creating Youth, Peace and Security Intervention Fund (CYPSIF)” that can be deployed to increase participation and engagement of youth in peace building and conflict management processes at all levels in line with UNSC Resolution 2250.

The youths called on the Federal Government to “establish and strengthen Institutional arrangement for effective coordination and mobilization of stakeholders to support the development process of State Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security in line with UNSC Resolution 2250. This institutional arrangement will fast track the process of domestication and implementation of Resolution 2250 at all levels in Nigeria.

“Strengthen State Ministries of Youth and Sports Development to take lead in the implementation of State Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security.

“Support and strengthen Grassroots Youth Coalition on Peace and Security to institutionalize citizens’ based Early Warning Early Response system for conflict prevention. This action will enable mitigation of youth led political violence, social unrest and countering violence extremism at all levels.

“Support and strengthen Nigerian Interreligious Council (NIREC) to promote human values and non-violence resolution of intra and inter religious conflicts at all levels. This action will reduce tendencies for ethno-religious conflicts at all levels”.