Interfaith Peacebuilding in Nigeria

Background information

Since 2009, the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram has been terrorizing northeastern Nigeria with violent attacks, kidnappings and bombings. In addition, violent clashes between Fulani militants and sedentary farmers in central Nigeria, which have been going on since the 1990s, continue to flare up. These two sources of conflict have had a massive impact on the relationship between Christians and Muslims throughout the country. In the course of the conflicts, many people have lost friends and family members or even experienced violence themselves and are traumatized. The anger over what has happened, the insecurity and the mistrust among the population toward other ethnic and religious groups are correspondingly great. The situation is further exacerbated by the poor economic situation and political power struggles in the country. Under these challenging circumstances, Mission 21 and its partners promote dialogue between people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds in order to facilitate peaceful coexistence. It also trains the population in conflict prevention and non-violent conflict management. It supports conflict-affected and traumatized people, especially young people and widowed women, by providing vocational training in religiously and ethnically mixed groups and psychosocial support.

Project goals

• Interreligious, interethnic and intercultural dialogue is promoted and improves mutual understanding, social cohesion and the peaceful coexistence of society.
• Society is sensitized to interethnic and interreligious conflicts and outbreaks of violence through advocacy campaigns.
• Key people in society, e.g. religious or traditional leaders and organizational staff, are trained in peacebuilding and non-violent conflict transformation.
• Trained peace workers and leaders act as bridge builders in society.
• People affected by conflict and sexual/gender-based violence are empowered in the long term through psychosocial support.

Target group

• Persons of Christian and Muslim faiths.
• Religious dignitaries, faith communities and community leaders as well as traditional leaders
• People who work for social interaction and peaceful coexistence of society.
• People directly affected by the violent conflicts in north-eastern and central Nigeria, especially widows and young people from affected regions and victims of gender-based violence.

Activities

• Establish Christian-Muslim dialogue forums with peacebuilding and bridge-building activities between social groups.
• Awareness campaigns on peaceful coexistence.
• Advocacy for reconciliation and restoration of justice through the "Restorative Justice" initiative
• Training in the areas of forgiveness, interreligious and intercultural dialog, non-violent conflict resolution, social cohesion, recognizing early signs of conflict outbreaks and following up on them
• Interreligious and interethnic self-help groups and opportunities for vocational training
• Psychosocial support for those affected by the conflicts by trained volunteers.

Project progress

Im Jahr 2025 fanden sieben Gemeinschafts- und interreligiöse Dialoge wie geplant mit LCGI statt, mit denen 600 Menschen erreicht werden konnten. Vor dem Hintergrund zunehmender Unsicherheit und von Konflikten entlang religiöser und ethnischer Grenzen ist es umso wichtiger, die Kommunikation aufrechtzuerhalten, Gerüchte zu vermeiden und das friedliche Zusammenleben zu fördern – auch auf der Ebene religiöser Führungspersönlichkeiten und spezifischer interreligiöser Gruppen. Frauen an der Basis werden als entscheidend angesehen. Advocacy-Besuche für Frieden und soziale Gerechtigkeit, Gemeinschaftsmediation für ein friedliches Zusammenleben als Teil der Katastrophenvorsorge (DRR) sowie Sensibilierungsmassnahmen gegen geschlechtsbasierte Gewalt (OSGBV) sind weiterhin Teil des Programms. Zudem wird das Pflanzen von Bäumen in der Gemeinde fortgeführt, zur Wiederaufforstung sowie als gemeinschaftsstiftende Massnahme.

2025 führte das Koordinationsbüro von Mission 21 auch das Kooperationsprojekt «Restorative Justice» fort. Im Rahmen dieses Projekts fand ein Workshop zum Thema Traumabehandlung und psychosoziale Unterstützung (MHPSS) für 56 Moderatorinnen und Moderatoren statt. Advocacy-Besuche in zwei Gemeinden schärften das Bewusstsein für Traumata in Konfliktsituationen. Das Thema individueller und kollektiver Traumata wird auch in absehbarer Zukunft sehr wichtig bleiben.