Nigeria
 | Empowering Communities for Gender Equality & Safety: Stories from West AfricaSearch for Common Ground (Search), grâce à un financement de 12 mois de la Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates, a lancé le projet “COVID 19 : Renforcement des capacités des Centres d’Opérations d’Urgence Sanitaire dans le domaine de la RCCE au Sénégal et au Burkina Faso”, afin d’aider ces deux pays à faire face à la pandémie et aux futures crises sanitaires, en renforçant la collaboration entre les communautés et les responsables sanitaires nationaux et régionaux. L’objectif principal de ce projet était de renforcer la capacité des responsables gouvernementaux de la santé à mettre en œuvre des interventions collaboratives de RCCE pour atténuer la propagation de la COVID-19 et les futures épidémies. Au terme de la mise en œuvre de ce projet, Search a réalisé une évaluation finale qui montre que les défis de la collaboration entre les populations, les agents de santé et l’administration publique ont été réduits et contribué à l’augmentation du nombre de personnes qui ont accepté d’être vaccinées. Au regard des résultats très positifs engrangés par cette intervention, cette étude recommande une extension du projet dans les autres districts des deux pays tout en renforçant l’inclusion et les participants des leaders religieux, des jeunes et des femmes. |
| Conflict Assessment – Contributing to the Mitigation of Conflict over Natural Resources between Farmer and Herder Communities in Adamawa State, Nigeria – December 2022Adamawa State, Northeastern Nigeria, has been faced with conflict related to the utilization of natural resources, particularly land and water resources. This has resulted in widespread conflicts in which property and lives have been lost especially in local government areas (LGAs) like Demsa, Numan, Girei, Lamurde and Mayo Belwa. The community-based organizations/groups such as Peace Architecture Dialogue (PAD), Community Response and Network (CRN) and so on established through the COMITAS have assisted in building confidence, enhancing social cohesion and enhancing interaction among the conflicting parties. This has contributed to booming business in the communities and advancement of intergroup relationships particularly between the herding and farming communities. |
| Greater Lake Chad Strategy 2021–2031As part of Search for Common Ground’s (Search) organization – wide strategy, the Greater Lake Chad (GLC) region was identified as one of twelve transnational conflict geographies in which Search will focus its efforts over the coming ten years. This summary lays out Search’s comprehensive strategy for the GLC region, composed of the countries bordering the Lake Chad Basin, including Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The multidimensional and transborder dimensions of conflict in the region demand a holistic, regional programmatic, and operational strategy. |
| Report – Media Sector Analysis and Communication Channel Mapping – April 2022Sustaining Electoral Engagement for Democracy (SEED) Project, Nigeria. USAID Mar. 2021 – Nov 2025. Nigeria’s democracy has been hit by various electoral, governance, and security issues thus putting the country at risk of military overthrow. Although Nigerian citizens continue to prefer democracy to other forms of government, the majority of Nigerians are not satisfied with the way democracy works in Nigeria, and local and international observers agreed that the 2019 general elections fell short of citizens’ expectations. Inter- and intra-party conflict dominated the pre-election environment, heightening tensions and raising concerns about electoral violence. The main channels relied on for information include social media (65%), radio (54%) and television (45%). Using radio, especially in rural areas or television, can address large audiences of different profiles and backgrounds while social media and television are more effective with urban dwellers. Entertainment, political news and sports are the most sought out information needs. However, this varies with the target categories, i.e. sports and entertainment appeals more to the youth population whereas the non-youth rely on the platform for political news. In terms of newspaper readership, the most read ones are Punch (35%) and Vanguard (24%), equally, Punch (27%) and Vanguard (13%) are the favorite newspapers. Other preferred newspapers vary with the specific states especially with the local prints which according to the respondents resonate well with them. |
| Final Evaluation – Advancing Religious Tolerance (ART. 38) Project in Nigeria – December 2020The Nigerian Government and the Shi’ite group have been engaged in violent confrontations since the arrest and detaining of the IMN leader Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife in 2015 despite a high court order in 2016 granting his release. Tensions increased with reports of the Shi’ite leader’s worsening health related to several gun injuries and the loss of an eye. IMN and several human rights organizations held several protests demanding his release for medical care, which was eventually granted in August 2019. Search through the ART project designed activities to address interreligious violence and weak mechanisms for seeking justice in response to religious freedom violations in Northern Nigeria which have led to a climate of fear between different religious and ethnic groups and a lack of trust in federal and state governments. The overall goal of the project is to advance the protection of religious freedom and tolerance among religious communities that reduces vigilante justice tied to blasphemy and apostasy laws in Nigeria. |
| Baseline Report of “UNITED IN SECURITY: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO CIVILIAN PROTECTION IN NIGERIA” Project In Adamawa and Benue States, Nigeria – June 2022According to a report by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), between 2021 and April 2022, Adamawa State recorded 247 human rights violation cases. The abuses reported include child abuse, rape, domestic violence, and unnatural causes. The Commission said it has resolved 75% of the cases, while 25% are pending. It also revealed that some of the cases have been referred to other institutions and organizations, such as the Police, the Ministry of Justice, the Nigerian Army, and the Civil Defence Corps. Search seeks to promote collaborative multi-stakeholder engagement and advocacy processes to reduce human rights abuse by police forces in Benue and Adamawa States. This integrated intervention design is to ensure that stakeholders and the community from a broad social demographic spectrum-particularly the average man in the community, widely considered to be the most vulnerable to human rights abuses and killings in Adamawa and Benue states are central to the project interventions. The study revealed that strengthening human rights actors and stakeholders will require a broadened and elevated human rights architecture that takes into consideration the views and engages the active participation of all stakeholders within the Human rights space. A steady coalition between the government, communities, and CSOs to harmonize political and economic rights within democratic institutions will also be necessary. In the meantime, government agencies, security, and nongovernmental organizations must play a larger role from the bottom up. Search’s project should address the low confidence and trust the community has in the security agencies and the security architecture of the state, which is seen to be amongst the most important factors driving human rights abuses and other forms of violence in the state. |
| “Capacity Needs Assessment Report of Senior Staff of Relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to Effectively Implement ONSA Communication Strategy on PVE and DDRR – Supporting the Efforts of the Nigerian Government on Preventing Violent Extremism and Promoting Disengagement, Disassociation, Reintegration, and Reconciliation” Project – December 2022“Capacity Needs Assessment of Senior Staff of Relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to Effectively Implement ONSA Communication Strategy on PVE and DDRR on Supporting the Efforts of the Nigerian Government on Preventing Violent Extremism and Promoting Disengagement, Disassociation, Reintegration, and Reconciliation” Project, Nigeria. February 2022 – March 2023. The assessment tools comprised four components; Individual Component, Organizational Component, Enabling Environment (broader systems), and ONSA Communications Strategy. Each of the mentioned components had Sub-dimensions or indicators and respondents were requested to rate them on a scale of 0-6 where (6.0) represented the highest possible rating implying that the indicator is “acceptable, and needs maintaining” while (0.0) was the lowest rating implying “not applicable or insufficient information”. One of the limitations of the assessment was the low turnout of participants in some states. This was a result of conflicting activities for the stakeholders at the MDAs. Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) working closely on rehabilitation, reintegration, and reconciliation showed some strengths while those that are not working in this context like the Ministry of Budget and National Planning showed capacity gaps. Deputy Directors of MDAs and Community Associations portrayed capacity strength in most of the components that were assessed. Meanwhile, those holding the position of Directors showed weaknesses in most of the components assessed. Comparatively, the Agencies showed more strength to implement the ONSA Communication Strategy on PVE/DDRR than the Ministries and Departments identified for the programme. |