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Plateau peace-building gets $60,000 from foreign donors to promote peace

Plateau peace-building gets $60,000 from foreign donors to promote peace

By Kingsley Chukwuka

Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA), on Thursday signed a grant agreement with a foreign donor known as Nigeria Early Recovery Initiative, an implementer partner of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Daily Times gathered. 

The grant totaling $60,000, equivalent to slightly above N22 Million, is meant to assist the PPBA to conduct assessment, with the aim to identify communities that are affected by violence, says Mr. Oliver Girard, the Chief of Party, Nigeria Early Recovery Initiative.

Girard said the United States’ Government is passionately interested in the conflict and violence occurring in the north central, northeast and northwest region of Nigeria.

According to him: “The American Government has asked our programme to commence work with the aim to support efforts to promote peace, reconciliation and recovery of communities that were affected by violence.

“A better place to start is to partner with the Plateau State Peace Building Agency because of its professionalism and neutrality in handling conflicts.

“The agreement signed is to conduct a rapid assessment in two Local Governments of Bassa and Mangu with the hope this will pave way for further collaboration in terms of supporting communities that were affected by violence.

 “The PPBA will be using its staff and resources with our financial support to conduct assessment in partnership with local civil society organisation to understand the communities that are affected by violence and have outstanding grievances and the results gotten will be shared among local actors which will set the stage for intervention in terms of helping communities recover their means of livelihood”, Girard said.

On his part, the Director General PPBA, Mr. Joseph Lengmang said it is significant to have support from the donor, to help government effort to further deepen the peace in the State.

Lengmang said with the effort of the government and other non-state actors the State has enjoyed some relative peace, but adding that a lot can still be done to further sustain the peace.

“We cannot run away from the reality that there are issues of conflict that remain unresolved which if it remains unaddressed they could possibly lead to the return of conflict in the State.

“So the effort from USAID is laudable because it will allow us to engage in a systematic fashion, working with a wide range of stakeholders in order to ensure that we have permanent peace in Plateau”, Lengmang said.

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