National Initiative for Sustainable Peacebuilding Architecture Phase II (NISPA II)

The National Initiative for Sustainable Peacebuilding Architecture project Phase II (NISPA II) has the overall objective to support local and cross-border community dialogue/peace building actions and training that links local initiatives (specifically on women’s initiatives) through CSOs to regional efforts such as ECOWAS and EU peacebuilding in West Africa. NISPA II is based on the lessons learnt and the successes from NISPA I, and the opportunities that presented themselves in the various communities and states that could be harnessed for a sustainable outcome. The project will be taking place in four countries of Nigeria, Chad, Mali and Niger. NISPA I provided the space for sustainable community led peacebuilding structures like the Agent for Peace Group (APG) and Network for Conflict Management and Mitigation (Net-CoMM) to be established, but lack the capacity to mediate in the herders and farmers conflict as NISPA I did not provide enough time for hand-holding and capacity development. The conflict between herdsmen and farmers is known to have a long and brutal history in Sub-Sahara Africa and the first possible line of thought is the competition over resources, including land and water. For instance, some attackers said to be recruited from Mali and the Central African Republic have been fingered in violence in parts of Nigeria. Proactive and pre-emptive peacebuilding efforts that form the core objectives of NISPA II is required to reverse these ugly trends.