In partnership with other stakeholders, the Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience (OSPRE) has announced plans to increase early warning and response to conflicts in the country.
Mr Chris Ngwodo, Director General of OSPRE, revealed this in a statement on Thursday at a stakeholders conference convened by the Consortium for Conflict Resolution and Development (CONCORD).
The European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) project are among the stakeholders.
According to the release, Ngwodo stated that the organisation has been improving links between national, regional, and municipal agencies, as well as non-state players, since its beginning in June 2022.
He stated that CONCORD attempts to foster synergies among all essential parties and emphasised the importance of understanding the link between security, peace, and development.
The curriculum included training sessions and discussions with participants from security services, the National Boundary Commission, the National Orientation Agency, civil society organisations, and observers.
The Ubuntu Centre of Africa Peacebuilding and Development (UCAP), led by renowned conflict and mediation specialist Prof. Oshita Oshita, made a discourse on the security conditions in Cross River and Akwa Ibom.
He advocated for the construction of community early warning and early response (CEWER) networks across the states to detect and respond to conflict signals.
Oshita requested a study of the dynamics of host communities, IDPs, refugees, and farmer-herder disputes in the two states.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), OSPRE, also known as the National Early Warning Centre of Nigeria, collaborates with state actors and civil society to improve institutional and community readiness and resilience to threats to human security.
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OSPRE’s flagship peacebuilding effort is the Consortium for Conflict Resolution and Development (CONCORD Initiative).
The programme will be launched in Abuja in December 2022. (NAN)
