By Samuel Aboje
CLEEN Foundation has begun a three-day Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Stakeholder Inception Training and commenced the formal inauguration of State Multi-Stakeholder Implementation and Monitoring Committees (SMIMCs) across five project states—Kaduna, Nasarawa, Imo, Plateau, and Benue.
The initiative, implemented in collaboration with state-level partners, aims to strengthen the domestication and execution of Nigeria’s National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security. It seeks to address the persistent gendered impacts of conflict, insecurity, and governance gaps that disproportionately affect women and girls, particularly in the North-Central and South-East regions.
Speaking on day one of the training in Kaduna State, the Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, Peter Maduoma—represented by Programme Manager, Chigozirim Okoro—emphasised that despite Nigeria’s national commitments to the WPS agenda, implementation at the sub-national level remains weak, fragmented, and poorly coordinated.
“Several states either lack functional State Action Plans or have inactive implementation structures, resulting in minimal progress on key WPS pillars, including participation, protection, prevention, relief, and recovery,” he said.
The newly inaugurated SMIMCs are expected to serve as inclusive coordination platforms that bring together government institutions, security agencies, civil society organisations, traditional and religious leaders, women mediators, youth groups, and the media. These committees are responsible for planning, overseeing, and monitoring WPS interventions in their respective states while ensuring alignment with the national framework and adapting approaches to local realities.
According to CLEEN Foundation, the committees will also track state-level commitments under the Security Accountability Project (SAP), improve institutional collaboration, and promote gender-sensitive decision-making across peace and security processes.
The ongoing workshops are designed to build the technical capacity of committee members on WPS principles, monitoring tools, reporting frameworks, and coordination mechanisms. Participants will also develop state-specific implementation roadmaps that outline steps for operationalizing WPS commitments.
Each state training hosts at least 30 participants drawn from the Ministries of Women Affairs, Justice, and Internal Security; gender committees of State Houses of Assembly; security agencies including the Police, DSS, Civil Defence, Correctional Service, and the military; faith-based organisations; traditional institutions; media stakeholders; and members of WPS networks, He4She ambassadors, and SIC networks.
The inception workshops were held in Imo, Nasarawa, and Benue States from November 11–13, and are ongoing in Plateau and Kaduna States from November 18–20, 2025.
Across all five states, CLEEN Foundation anticipates strengthened coordination, improved accountability, increased visibility of WPS commitments, and deeper engagement of women and youth in peace and security decision-making processes.
South South Times . 