By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja

The United Nations has appealed to the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States to employ dialogue as against the use of military force to ensure that soldiers who recently overthrew a democratically elected government in the Republic of Niger return to their barracks.

The UN WOMEN, a global champion for gender equality, made the appeal during a Sensitisation Workshop on Women Peace and Security in Nigeria which it organised in conjunction with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Abuja yesterday.

The Director of the UN Women in Nigeria was represented on the occasion by the Deputy Director, Mr Lansana Inonneh.

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Inonneh explained that some certified women mediators had been engaged by the global body to meet with the various women groups in the Niger Republic on the roles they could play to avert the looming war in the country.

He said, “Conflict is not a good thing. When it occurs, the best means to resolve it is a political process, dialogue. My appeal to ECOWAS is to thread on the line of making peace through dialogue. There should be more political dialogues.

“From an institutional perspective, we as a United Nations entity for gender equality and empowerment of women, have certified women mediators. We have just listed them.

“We have contacted them and we are prepared to send them to the Niger Republic to have dialogue with other women in Niger so that they can be part of that peace process.

“The foundation upon which the United Nations was created, is promoting peace and therefore, we would always be on the line of peace. I believe that is what the Resident UN coordinator in the Niger Republic will be working towards also.”

He urged states in Nigeria that had yet to domesticate and implement the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security to do so because of its many advantages.

Inonneh said, “There is a United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security. Member States have signed the document and adopted it. When it is adopted, countries would develop a national action plan. It could be a five-year action plan.

“Nigeria has implemented its first and second national action plans and it is in the process of developing the third NAP

“Once there is a NAP, it will be adopted and domesticated in various states of the federation. It then becomes the State Action Plan at the state’s various sub-regional levels of government.

“Sixteen states in Nigeria have, so far, been able to develop and domesticated those action plans.  Many of those states are going to their third action plans. The implementation was however not as robust as we had anticipated but we are making some progress.

“We are not starting from zero level because we had made significant results as a result of the implementation of the first and second SAP.

“What is missing is the allocation of resources to implement the activities of the SAP from the government side in the different states.”

He said that was why the UN WOMEN in collaboration with NILDS came up with the sensitization programme to commit the legislative arms of the state government to the programme.

The Director-General of the NILDS, Prof Abubakar Sulaiman, who was represented on the occasion by Dr Shuaibu Danwaka said the event was aimed at discussing the rising insecurity in Nigeria that has seen diverse non-state actors perpetrate unrelenting security threats across the country.

He said the insecurity ranged from the Boko Haram Insurgency in the North-East, the farmer-herder crisis, resource-based conflicts in the Niger Delta region, and inter-state incidences of armed robbery, banditry, and kidnapping, among others.

He said the conflicts existed as serious barriers to the economic and social development of the local communities in which they occur.

Sulaiman also said they have also resulted in thousands of death while causing large-scale displacement of people, abuses, and violation of rights in the areas affected.

He said, “While both men and women are significantly impacted by violent conflict, with men bearing the brunt of fatalities, it has been demonstrated consistently that women and children, especially girls, are disproportionately at the receiving end of sexual and other forms of gendered-based violence, exposure to trafficking, and make up an overwhelming majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

“This has not only allowed for an exacerbation of the already critical and perennial problem of gender inequality and discrimination in Nigeria but further makes visible the absence of important instructional frameworks to protect women and girls.

“Despite these realities, women have principally been considered simply as victims of conflict and violence, while being poorly represented in formal peace and security decision-making processes, and excluded as important agents of peace.

“It is in light of this that the UN Security Council passed a resolution in 2000 commonly referred to as UNSCR 1325 on women, peace, and security.

“By this resolution, there is a concerted call for women to participate fully in peace-building and peace-making processes, be involved in post-conflict recovery and peace negotiations, be protected from human rights violations, and have access to justice.

“This requires that countries come up with National Action Plans (NAPs) on women, peace, and security that reflect their commitment and accountability towards the security of women and girls during armed conflicts while ensuring their participation in peace processes.

“These NAPs also serve as practical and operational tools for affected communities, such that they are informed about the government’s response to their situation, while constituting an important roadmap for implementing UNSCR 1325, both at the policy and enforcement levels.

“Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, in collaboration with UN Women, launched its first NAP in 2013, and the second in 2017.

“States are required to draw from this national document and contextualise it appropriately in their domains through SAPs on women, peace, and security.

Distinguished guests, as the third NAP is currently being developed for Nigeria, the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), in collaboration with UN Women, deemed it fit to bring together all states that have SAPS to deliberate and share experiences on the implementation process thus far.”