Interfaith Peacebuilding in Nigeria

Background information

Since 2009, the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram has been terrorizing northeastern Nigeria with violent attacks, kidnappings and bombings. In addition, violent clashes between Fulani militants and sedentary farmers in central Nigeria, which have been going on since the 1990s, continue to flare up. These two sources of conflict have had a massive impact on the relationship between Christians and Muslims throughout the country. In the course of the conflicts, many people have lost friends and family members or even experienced violence themselves and are traumatized. The anger over what has happened, the insecurity and the mistrust among the population toward other ethnic and religious groups are correspondingly great. The situation is further exacerbated by the poor economic situation and political power struggles in the country. Under these challenging circumstances, Mission 21 and its partners promote dialogue between people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds in order to facilitate peaceful coexistence. It also trains the population in conflict prevention and non-violent conflict management. It supports conflict-affected and traumatized people, especially young people and widowed women, by providing vocational training in religiously and ethnically mixed groups and psychosocial support.

Project goals

• Interreligious, interethnic and intercultural dialogue is promoted and improves mutual understanding, social cohesion and the peaceful coexistence of society.
• Society is sensitized to interethnic and interreligious violence and conflict through advocacy campaigns.
• Key members of society, such as pastors or organizational staff, are trained in peacebuilding and nonviolent conflict transformation.
• Trained peace workers and leaders act as bridge builders in society.
• People affected by conflict and sexual/gender-based violence are empowered in the long term through psychosocial support.

Target group

• Persons of Christian and Muslim faiths.
• Religious dignitaries, faith communities and municipal decision-makers.
• People who work for social interaction and peaceful coexistence of society.
• People directly affected by the violent conflicts in northeast and central Nigeria, especially widows and youth from affected regions.

Activities

• Establish Christian-Muslim dialogue forums with peacebuilding and bridge-building activities between social groups.
• Awareness campaigns on peaceful coexistence.
• Advocacy for reconciliation and restoration of justice through the Restorative Justice Initiative.
• Training in forgiveness, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, nonviolent conflict resolution, social cohesion, early signals of conflict, and conflict tracking and reporting.
• Interfaith professional trainings and interfaith and interethnic support groups.
• Psychosocial support for those affected by the conflicts by trained volunteers.

Project progress

In 2023, it was also possible to build on the success of the interfaith dialog groups held in the previous year. Three further dialog groups were founded, whose members continue to promote peace in their communities independently. In 2023, interfaith mixed groups of young people and widows, a total of 46 people affected by the violent clashes in Plateau State, were able to complete training together, during which they were sensitized to peaceful coexistence between different ethnic and religious groups. Another 20 young people received start-up equipment to apply the professional skills they had learned in their own businesses. In addition, another month-long course was held at the Peace Training Center (PTC) in Jos for peace promoters and bridge builders. 55 people were able to take part. As part of the "Restorative Justice" initiative, roundtables and community meetings were organized and key people from the judiciary and administration as well as from various peacebuilding organizations were brought together to jointly find a way out of the spiral of violence in Plateau State.