Faith leaders and traditional rulers join business owners and educators at a GPF Nigeria training workshop

Global Peace Foundation (GPF) Nigeria is fostering not just tolerance but genuine love and friendship between people of different religious and cultural backgrounds in North Central Nigeria. While GPF Nigeria has already established a Peace and Reconciliation Committee in the region, community members are ensuring ongoing peacebuilding work through training programs open to the public.

More than 130 people attended one of these training workshops on April 12 and 13. The group consisted of both traditional rulers and faith leaders as well as business owners, educators, and women and youth leaders. The training aims to equip key stakeholders in the community with practical approaches to community engagement, foster understanding between different cultures and religions to build trust and confidence and encourage inclusive participation in mitigating violence.

Women and youth leaders attend Lapai Peace and Reconciliation Committee training

The program specifically includes teachers and students to nurture attitudes of togetherness among children of different religions and ethnicities. Schools are an important component of every society, not exclusively for academic education, but especially as a reflection of the community it serves, where young people learn to interact peacefully and respectfully.

During the training, participants learned about several of GPF Nigeria’s ongoing programs they could become a part of. These include community dialogue meetings with security agencies, community group outreach with volunteers, the Community Peace Festival, youth sporting activities, and monthly Peace and Reconciliation Committee meetings.

The Lapai Peace and Reconciliation Committee is in the process of planning the Lapai Peace Festival and other projects to continue engaging the community in the peacebuilding process.

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