By Marie-Therese Nanlong, Jos

Community-women in Plateau State have asked for inclusion in the community security and peace processes saying they are key stakeholders in such issues in the communities.

The women spoke during a consultative forum on women’s meaningful participation in community policing, atrocity prevention and strategic advocacy for peacebuilding in Plateau State organized by the Women and Girl-Child Rescue and Development Initiative, WGRDI with the support of the Women for Women International, WfWI.

The women including Mary Sambo and Iyami Yunusa maintained that no other member of the society understands the need for security and peace like the women because they bear the brunt of violent conflicts the most.

Earlier, Bridget Dakyes, the Executive Director of WGRDI said the event was for stakeholders and community women and the project is under the conflict stability and security fund, CSSF, a Women Peace and Security, WPS project.

Her words, “The project is tagged; Women Peace Architecture, the reason we are talking about women peace architecture is that women need a platform where they can coordinate themselves to talk about issues that affect the participation of women in decision making, atrocity prevention, community policing and peacebuilding processes.

“You know that any time there is violent conflict, women and girls constitute a larger percentage of the population that are worst hit. Either they become breadwinners through widowhood or they lose their children and businesses and are unable to cater for themselves.

“We see a need to involve women in peace-building processes, in community policing and see how women can actively participate in strategic advocacy, identify key stakeholders to pay advocacy visits to so as to discuss issues that concern them and come up with solutions.

“The consultative forum is to enhance the capacity of women and listen to their issues. We brought in women from two communities; Congo-Russia in Jos North and Dadin Kowa in Jos South. We have been working with them in our different programmes, this project has been on since 2022, funded by WfWI. We have women from different backgrounds, women in rights organizations…”

She listed other collaborating institutions including: Women Peace and Security Network, WPS; Plateau Peace Practitioners’ Network, PPPN; NAWOJ; NHRC; Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development; Community Development Associations; Traditional institutions; Vigilante Heads, Jos North and Jos South; Nigeria Police Force; NSCDC; Jos North and Jos South LGAs representatives; and Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA, WISCOD, CWEENS etc.

Dakyes added, “The stakeholders are to lend their voices to contribute on how women can take the lead, identify issues that concern them, bring about vulnerability and atrocities in communities and how they can be curbed through early reports and steps to be taken to achieve meaningful participation of women in community policy and peacebuilding processes…”

Goodwill messages were received from the diverse stakeholders including the Community leader of the Anglo-Jos Community, Da Gwom Da Shonong who urged the women to always come up to report cases of violence in their homes for prompt action – especially house helps who are being maltreated in their homes and added that “women can do more to mitigate against any violence meted on them.”

The representative from the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development implored the women to pay careful attention and learn, that the NHRC identified some challenges faced by the Commission which range from women not speaking out, and even when cases come up in their favour, they later withdraw such cases under the guise of saving family name, adding that “if we do not speak, no one will listen to us.”