5) Description of initiative: The Activities are proposed to be a series of workshops designed for youths, on Alternatives to Violence Carefronting runs workshops on different ways of dealing with psychological and physical violence.

The workshops will begin with building on participants self esteem and affirmation and progress into community building, Conflict Resolution and Communication at the first level. Apart from emphasizing the fact that everybody is of immense value to the society, hence helping them to appropriate value to their lives and that of others, the workshops also elucidates the importance of communication in managing conflicts.

At the end of the workshop the warring communities will play football matches against each other, at the end of the first season of the football matches, two warring communities will merged into one formidable football team and same goes for all the other communities in other areas or states, it is surprising as two warring communities unite to cheer the same team(because they are automatically binded as one since the team has come out of both communities) Two warring communities will then be binded together in the joy of victory and the Agony of defeat.

Then they will go back for the advanced level workshop it involves exercises that go deeper into the cause of violence and the skills needed to recognize and cope with these. The project is to promote peace building by offering alternatives to violence in conflic situation. These is principally what we have been doing since 2001. We work with participants that are categorised into 4 viz; Inciters of violence, perpetuators of Violence, Victims of violence and People of influence (e.g Ngos, religious and Community leaders, youth leaders etc)These are classified as those that will use experience learned in their daily endervours and to promote peace in their respective communities.

6) Description of innovation: Our approach relies on principles, it is an experiential and interactive way of making participants discover the innate tendencies of everyone for peacwful co-existence. affirming ourselves and others and how perception strongly influences our judgement.Just like i mentioned earlier the workshops begin with building on participants self esteem and affirmation and it progress into community building, Conflict Resolution and Communication and Apart from emphasizing the fact that everybody is of immense value to the society, hence helping them to appropriate value to their lives and that of others, the workshops also elucidates the importance of communication in managing conflicts,and making participants realise that there are always options left for us to choose from in any conflict situation. more than anything else it dwells on the strenght of TRANSFORMING POWER.

7) Delivery model: Through workshops, we organise workshops and in all the states we have worked we get the participants to start up a peace club that is designed to have activities that will enable the communities benefit from the snowball effect. We use organisations in the localities to identify participants, we worked closely with the state branches of the red cross to identify, invite and follow up our participants.

8) Key operational partnerships: The project was an INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS (NIGERIAN DELEGATION)ICRC funded project for the Nigerian Red Cross Society thus we were the technical partners on board the project. The whole funds for the project was mobilised by the ICRC, to them it was an avenue amongst other things to increase the volunteer strenght of the Red Cross, which was achieved.

9) Financial model: The project was funded completely by the ICRC, thus the participants need not pay to benefit from it. We give participants tea, Lunch and transport during workshops since it last through the day(09:00hrs-1700hrs) for three days. The entire funds to cover all that is been bourne by the ICRC.

          • Costs as percentage of income: NON

          • Financing: The project was financed by the ICRC under the ICRC/AVP project agreement. With members of CAREFRONTING NIGERIA anchoring the North for AVP Nigeria. In the course of the ICRC/AVP project their was no football matches thus we are introducing football to ensure sustainability. We will advocate for government support so that we can use the stadiums for the marches this will enable us take gate fees to sustain the process, since the matches to be played will be much. we will be able to buy gifts and prizes for competing teams, buy jersies and fund workshops.

10) Effectiveness

          • Project outcomes: More than 1000 persons has benefitted in the North alone wwere i covered as the Zonal coordinator(AVP). in the north we were working in four states; Kaduna, Kano, Plateau and Nassarawa and 8 other states spread accross the nation in the south west and south east.

          • Number of clients in past year: We had less workshops last year and we did more of follow up thus last year less than 100 persons benefited in the North, coupled with the fact that the project was planning .re-focus

11) Scaling up strategy

          • Stage of the initiative: Mature stage.

          • Expansion plan: We plan to have presence in allthe violence prone states in the north and to strenghten the local initiatives(The Peace Clubs) to enable them have independent activities that will involve more youths, then we will include training on mitigation and volunteerism so that participants will start developing the spirit of volunteering. We have had the problem of participants wanting transport or per diem for every activity they participate in even when the ICRC funding doesnt cover such activities.

12) Origin of the initiative: In the north it was after the sectarian crisis of the year 2000, that is tagged SHARIA RIOT(Kaduna) same goes for Jos(Plateau state) Nassarawa and Kano state. Same for the states in the Niger Delta all the states we intervene has happened when we realise that the states are prone to violence and mostly after crisis to prevent re-occurence and in others we intervene because of a life long unsettled feud. The real idea of AVP started from Prison realising that our Prisons do not serve the purpose for which they were established, thus it was to reform ex-convicts to stay away from the culture of violence but in Nigeria we now have more presence in communities than in Prisons Building peace among people in our communities.

Contact Information:
MAJI PETERX  NDASULE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CAREFRONTING - NIGERIA
Nigeria
Email: majipeterx