The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has said women’s participation in peace building at the community level is critical to strengthening national security.

Mr Ribadu stated this in Abuja on Tuesday at the 2023 Women’s Peace Forum with the theme, “Strengthening women’s strategic engagement in climate-focused peacemaking in Nigeria.”

Mr Ribadu was represented by Head of Strategic Communications, Office of the NSA, Zakari Mijinyawa, at the event organised by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in partnership with the Government of Canada.

He added that the Federal Government was putting in place special measures to mainstream woman into peace building activities.

“As you are aware, the Renewed Hope Agenda has one of its key pillars as strengthening national security. The plans for police reform and also moving millions of Nigerians out of poverty cannot be done without empowering women.

“Women are victims, and also contributors to peace at community levels. So it is a key pillar of national security that at every level, women are involved. Indeed, the Federal Government is taking special measures to mainstream women into peace building activities.

“So that is why we thought it is important to come in and participate and also to contribute in shaping the resolutions of this programme,” Mr Ribadu said.

On rehabilitation efforts in the North-East, Mr Ribadu said both the federal and state governments had been supportive to persons impacted by the impact of violent extremism and terrorism.

He said that the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu has expanded the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs to include poverty alleviation and to meet the needs of those affected by conflicts and insecurity.

He added,  “In Maiduguri and in most of the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, women are involved in both peace building and in addressing their needs in the areas of health, psychosocial support, and also in rebuilding communities. So this is at the heart of recovery going forward.’’

Speaking, the UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, said that the current peace and security challenges in Nigeria had devastating effects, particularly on women and girls and other vulnerable groups.

This according to Eyong includes climate change vis-a-vis the farmer-herder crisis, cybercrime, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery and incessant attacks by the insurgents, among others.

She said there was need for the patricians to deliberate further on those challenges during the conference to identify sustainable solution

“It is evident that while climate change continues to put pressure on the wellbeing and livelihoods of many communities and individuals in Nigeria and beyond, as its impact is not gender neutral.

“Women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and climate change.

“Women tend to be more reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods compared to men, and often have limited rights to information and participation in decision-making, including conflict prevention and peacemaking, at all levels,’’Ms Eyong said.

The Country manager of HD, Dr Chris Agoha, observed that as communities migrate from climate-related crises, women were more vulnerable to security threats and violence.

Mr Agoha decried that women who play a significant role in small-scale farming and food supply in Nigeria were not usually part of Nigerians making policies about food security.

He said that the conference was to see how climate change was adversely impacting on women in terms of carrying out their daily activity, especially women with farming as their source of livelihood.

“There are big climatic conditions, all about global warming and all that. So this climate change is affecting every aspect of our life, particularly women in terms of what they do.

“It’s bringing conflict, depletion of natural resources. If you look at the crisis in the middle belt, there is this problem of farmer-herders clash. It has been exacerbated by climate change. There’s shrinking grazing space and land is being contested,’’ Mr Agoha said.

During the panel session, the Director-General of the Benue Peace and Resolution Commission, Mrs Josephine Abba, said, “Until Nigeria begins to accept that women are critical participants in society, nothing can be achieved in the area of peace and food security.”

(NAN)