Plateau women seek to implement peace agreements
Women in communities ravaged by conflicts in Plateau State have demanded that they be allowed to drive the process for the implementation of all peace agreements between warring communities. The women said they have established what they call peace structures to sustain the agreements and have mobilised over 1,500 people to continue sensitisation efforts within […]
Women in communities ravaged by conflicts in Plateau State have demanded that they be allowed to drive the process for the implementation of all peace agreements between warring communities.
The women said they have established what they call peace structures to sustain the agreements and have mobilised over 1,500 people to continue sensitisation efforts within pastoralist and farming communities.
At a general congress that brought together all sub-committees and their members across the 11 villages of the Bum District of Riyom Local Government of Plateau State, the women mobilised to raise awareness around the blocking of cattle routes and watering points affecting the community.
Plateau State Commissioner of Higher Education, Mrs Kacholom Gang, who described women as the strength of every home and community, encouraged them to leverage their unity for self-development and economic sustainability.
She further encouraged the women, especially leaders, to reduce the consumption of local brew, noting that it often serves as an accelerant to conflict and emphasised the importance of educating children, considering the long history of poor school participation in Bum.
The Central Women Peace Committee leader, Mrs Ngyuk Nasamu, described the meeting as the first Women Congress since their capacity-building engagement with a non-governmental organisation, the Institute for Integrated Trust (IFIT), which led to the establishment of the Women Peace Committee.
She charged women in Plateau to sustain peace efforts within their respective localities by reaching out to as many as possible.
Patron of the Women’s Peace Committee, Mrs Ruth Moses, appreciated the stable leadership demonstrated by the women.
She highlighted the importance of producing an almanac that will feature all women contributing to achieving peace in the state as a mark of strengthening leadership among women.
The Bum peace committee chairman, Pastor Yabo Shekara, charged the women to continue promoting peaceful coexistence and to manage conflicts and tensions within their communities effectively.
Also present were key community stakeholders, including the National President of the Atten Development Association (ADA), the District Head of Bum, and other men who turned up to support the women’s peace initiative.
The Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT) has been facilitating negotiated settlements of disputes between farmer and herder communities in six rural communities of Riyom and Bokkos LGAs of Plateau State by leveraging and strengthening the leadership capacities of women, youth actors and members of disadvantaged groups at the community level, such that they have a platform and capacity to co-facilitate negotiated settlements.