The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has organised a workshop for stakeholders in Plateau on the importance of the National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security implementation.

Declaring the event open on Wednesday in Jos, Sunday Dare, the minister in charge of the ministry, said the workshop was organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security (NCYPS).

Represented by Lami Bature, Mr Dare described the event as a pre-dissemination workshop aimed at sensitising critical stakeholders at the state levels toward fully implementing the plan.

He explained that the action plan was a resolution of the United Nations Security Council (UNSCR) 2250, and the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted that in 2015.

Mr Dare further explained that the pilot scheme for implementing the action plan, which would run between 2021 and 2024 before any review, is currently running in Plateau, Adamawa, Kaduna State, Edo, Delta, Oyo State and Abuja.

“We are here today to create awareness on this document and to map the stakeholders that we need to engage to implement it in this state.

“We are hopeful that the implementation of the youth, peace and security action plan will open positive and sustainable opportunities for young people,” he said.

The minister called on the state government, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), community and religious leaders, security agencies, the media, among other stakeholders, to support the initiative.

Earlier, Victor Lapang, Plateau Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, described the event as “timely”.

Mr Lapang, who expressed the government’s readiness to domesticate the action plan in the state, maintained that the initiative had tallied with the government’s various efforts toward building trust and peaceful coexistence.

He advised participants to cascade the knowledge gained to other members of their communities, adding that such a move would enable a wider spread of information about the action plan.

(NAN)