Forum Unveils Theories to Address GBV, Promote Women’s Role in Peacebuilding

By Mustapha Salisu

As part of efforts to address issues affecting women and girls in Nigeria, Associate Professor Zainab Ladan Mai-Bornu from the University of Leicester, along with her Nigerian team, co-produced two Theories of Change (ToCs).

PRIME TIME NEWS gathered that the two ToCs focused on “Women’s Participation in Peacebuilding Processes” and “Addressing Gender-Based Violence Against Women.”

Ladan organized a stakeholders’ session on Thursday at Tahir Guest Palace in Kano State, drawing participants from Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, and Kano States. She acknowledged that the workshop aimed to disseminate the results of the developed theories to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on peacebuilding and addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Northern Nigeria. A similar session was previously held in the Niger Delta Region.

She expressed optimism that the CSOs would read the developed ToCs, adopt them, and then sensitize their local communities on how the theories could help address GBV issues and promote peacebuilding processes among women and girls.

Ladan disclosed that the project targets local community leaders and members, youths, faith-based leaders, and policymakers to highlight the importance of inclusive voices in peacebuilding.

According to her, “Local women at home are good decision-makers and mediators, especially during conflicts within societies. It is time to adopt some of these local strategies from Northern Nigeria and the Niger Delta region and utilize them at all levels across Nigeria.”

Ladan expressed hope that organizations and partners would leverage the developed document to continue their work on addressing issues affecting women and girls in Nigeria. She also expects that the government and international development agencies will find the document helpful for their work.

Muhammad Munji Sunusi, a project partner from Pastoral Resolve (PARE), emphasized that women could effectively participate in peacebuilding when they understand their roles.

“In many places, women want to participate but unfortunately don’t know how, often seeing it as a male-dominated space where they don’t have anything to contribute,” Munji noted. “Women’s participation in decision-making is crucial to addressing their issues.”

He cited research by the United Nations Institute for Peace, which found that peacebuilding processes involving women are 10% more effective than those involving only men.

Participants at the end of the workshop, including Mrs. Elizabeth M. Abo, the General Coordinator of the Women’s Interfaith Council in Kaduna State, described the workshop as timely and congratulated Associate Prof. Zainab Mai-Bornu Ladan for developing the theories.

Mrs. Elizabeth committed to conducting a step-down training session for members of her organization to ensure they also benefit from the knowledge gained.

Ramatu Ahmad from the Women with Disabilities Self-Reliance Foundation in Kaduna State acknowledged that the workshop had exposed the realities of how GBV against women and girls can be reduced. She noted that Southern Kaduna faces many GBV cases and conflicts, with persons with disabilities being the most vulnerable. “This training on Theory of Change is an eye-opener for me, guiding me to mobilize women and other PWDs to voice their views on reducing conflict and kidnapping in the region,” Ramatu said.

Comrade Bako Abdul Usman, the National President of the Campaign for Democracy, stated that the theory of change learned from the workshop equipped them with knowledge on peacebuilding and the inclusion of women in decision-making processes. He pledged to carry out step-down training with his organization, aligning the project with their policies on human rights in governance.

PRIME TIME NEWS gathered that the two Theories of Change (ToCs) project, which started in June 2022, is supported and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council of the United Kingdom, the Centre for Regional and Local History at the University of Leicester, and the University of Leicester itself.