Niger Delta Regional Peacebuilding Strategy Implementation Town Hall Meetings

Conflict and security dynamics in the Niger Delta region continue to change and historical tensions and a proliferation of armed groups (militant, criminal, and ethno-sectarian) are key to these changes. Conflict issues in the region include communal tensions, political competition, organized criminality, and resource-based conflicts and so on.

While current conflict mitigation approaches show some results in the short term, they seldom focus on the conflict drivers nor are they prefaced with conflict analysis which is often a precursor to effective conflict management. These approaches are often focused on engaging the conflict after it has occurred and measures are hardly put in place for conflict prevention. The effect is that too often the conflict situation rears its head again resulting in deaths and destruction of properties, and the suppression of economic growth in the region. The importance of adopting a holistic approach to dealing with conflict in the Niger Delta cannot be over-emphasized. Any initiative aimed at addressing conflict should necessarily adopt an approach that views the issue from both a security and a peacebuilding perspective. A peacebuilding approach would focus on the drivers of conflict and identifying proactive measures that look at conflict prevention as well as reduction and mitigation. 

This presents the need for a regional peacebuilding strategy/ framework to drive conflict resolution efforts in the region rather than purely focusing on containing conflict or de-escalating violent situations. The designing and institution of a peacebuilding strategy provides an opportunity to adopt multi-stakeholder approaches to conflict resolution and peacebuilding

Based on the foregoing, PIND Foundation is leveraging its existing peace and security architecture to collaborate with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA) in the design and development of the Niger Delta Regional Peacebuilding Strategy (NDRPS) document. The strategic document will provide the framework for the implementation of a Regional Peacebuilding apparatus.