Gender Equality Nigeria Project #20477

#IWantToBe: Empowering Women for Peace in Nigeria

by Generations For Peace Inc

#IWantToBe: Empowering Women for Peace in Nigeria

Project Report | Jun 4, 2015
Update #1: $1000 raised so far!

By Julia Kent | Director, Donor & Partner Communications

Empowering Women For Peace Nigeria

Thanks again for your support of our project, #IWantToBe: Empowering Women For Peace in Nigeria!

We have raised over $1000! This is a good start, but we need to keep it going to raise the rest of our $7000 goal by June 30. Please tell your friends and family about this important project, and help us empower more women to build sustainable peace in Kaduna. Read on to learn more about the context in which Generations For Peace volunteers are working in Nigeria.

After 46 years of British rule, Nigeria gained independence in 1960. Upon their departure, the British left a federal government in Nigeria that represented each of Nigeria’s three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo) by region. However, as the electoral institutions were new and fragile, the post-independence government was left susceptible to a series of military coups and a violent civil war (1967-1970). After 16 years of military rule, democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999. Today, despite being Africa’s second-largest economy – ethnic tensions, and militant violence continue to pose serious threats to the stability of the country.

Kaduna is the fourth largest state in Nigeria and houses a population of over six million. Over 50 languages are spoken in Kaduna, with the three major languages being Hausa, Gbari, and English. Kaduna is one of the main education centres in Nigeria with 12 post-secondary education institutions. However, despite being a state of promise, as a result of ongoing conflicts in the region, Kaduna continues to suffer:

Religious Tensions: divides have been particularly high since the violence that broke out between Muslims and Christians in 1987 (the Kafanchan disturbances), 1992 (clashes in a marketplace in Zangon-Kataf), and 2000 (Shariah riots in Kaduna City).
Gender Inequality: limited access to secondary school education as a result of poverty, early marriages, and poor health care access.
Poverty: caused by a booming population, income inequality and related crime (kidnappings, extortion).

In an attempt to address some of these conflicts, Generations For Peace has been working in Kaduna, Nigeria since 2009. Aiming to reduce religious tensions, increase gender equality, and improve economic opportunities, GFP continues to implement regular Sport, Advocacy, and Empowerment For Peace Programmes across 15 communities, training more than 180 volunteers in peacebuilding and conflict transformation who have in turn reached more than 5000 people.

Thanks to your support, we are closer to meeting our goal of raising $7000, which will directly benefit at least 30 women and their families with the skills they need to escape ongoing cycles of violence. You can donate your social media reach to support this campaign in two ways:

sign up for our Thunderclap campaign, which will send out a simultaneous, coordinated message across Twitter and Facebook and raise awareness about the #IWantToBe project; and/or
share this project with your friends and family with your own social media posts, and help us empower more women to build sustainable peace in Kaduna.

We look forward to sharing more with you soon! Keep an eye on our Facebook page for lots of updates and more stories from the field.

#IWantToBe

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