The overly simplistic understanding of gender in Nigeria’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), along with the government’s failure to prioritize human rights in its security policy, together result in “gendered security harms."
Nigeria
Innovation in peacebuilding has left brain and behavioral science largely unexplored. Beyond Conflict seeks to change that.
The Nigerian military response and local politics contribute more to the resilience of Boko Haram and the protraction of the conflict in the Lake Chad region than Boko Haram’s affiliation with the Islamic State does.
The disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) program in the Nigerian oil region brought forth changes for ex-insurgents and community members across four levels to some extent—cultural, intrapersonal, structural, and interpersonal (CISI)—though interpersonal change did not extend to all conflict parties, hindering the conflict transformation potential of the program.
Military action is often an ineffective and counterproductive tool for countering terrorism, as it fuels grievances of already marginalized communities.