ECOLERITE INSTITUTE for Peace Advancement (EIPA)

is an interfaith, not-for-profit making, Non-Governmental organization. The organization came about as a result of response to the plethora of sectarian violent conflicts in Nigeria by a group of peace-building practitioners.

Today, over 70 million people are displaced as a result of conflict, violence, persecution, and human rights violations. Half of them are children.

We refuse to accept conflict as a way of life. Our projects provide training that fosters understanding and provides communities with the skills to resolve conflicts. EIPA creates environments of peace.

As an Institute, peace is a cornerstone of our mission. we believe when people work to create peace in their communities, that change can have a global effect.

By carrying out service projects and supporting peace fellowships and scholarships, our members take action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.

Our commitment to peace building today answers new challenges: how we can make the greatest possible impact and how we can achieve our vision of lasting change. We are approaching the concept of peace with greater cohesion and inclusivity, broadening the scope of what we mean by peacebuilding, and finding more ways for people to get involved.

Breaking the cycle of poverty for women: Most of the women living in rural areas do not have the collateral to get loans from regulated financial institutions. We shall help local women complete financial literacy courses so they would be able to pool their money and fund their own microlending program.

Skills development, business training: we shall help in getting micro-loans and train community members in sewing, baking, plumbing, microcredit, business management, and leadership.

Sustainable farming: we shall give farmers the skills they needed to improve soil fertility, control soil erosion, and market their produce. The results: increased crop yields and profits.

EIPA creates environments where peace can happen.

EIPA's Four Roles in Promoting Peace

ATM and its members are:

Practitioners: improving the health of mothers and children, supporting education, growing local economies and Protecting the Environment directly builds the optimal conditions for peaceful societies.

Educators: We shall trained peace fellows to become effective catalysts for peace through careers in government, education, and international organizations.

Mediators: We shall negotiate humanitarian ceasefires in areas of conflict to allow drugs/polio vaccinators to reach children who are at risk.

Advocates: Our members have an integral role as respected, impartial participants during peace processes and in post-conflict reconstruction. We shall focus on creating communities and convening groups that are connected, inclusive, and resilient.

Why peacebuilding?

Peacebuilding is about addressing the underlying causes of conflict. It helps people to resolve their differences without resorting to violence.

GENDER EQUALITY

Why is non-violence Powerful?

Over the past two decades, there has been increasing acknowledge of different ways that violent conflict and building peace impact on men and women, as well as a growing understanding of the roles, identities and relationships that influence how they are engaged in and influencing these processes. Nevertheless, there is a general lack of understanding of exactly why integrating a gender perspective matters. Setting out a clear rationale, practical actions and concrete measures to taken will help to ensure that opportunities to strengthen peace-building will not be missed.

Integrating gender into peace-building and state-building processes matters in four key ways. Firstly, gender equality and women’s human rights are important goals in their own right, as most recently articulated in Goals in their own right, as most recently articulated in Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Peace-building and state-building processes are opportunities to support and advance women’s rights and gender equality, particularly given the fluid nature of post-conflict spaces and the possibilities they present to renegotiate and reshape gender and power relations. Following from this, SDG Goal 16 on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies has particularly and inclusive societies has particularly strong links with SDG.

Secondly, there is an instrumental value in integrating gender into peace –building and state-building attested to by a growing body of evidence that peace-building and state-building interventions may be more effective if they are gender –sensitive or linked to promoting gender equality. While there is no clear consensus in the relationship between peace-building, State-building and gender equality, recent evidence specific examples of how they can mutually strengthen each other and how gender equality contributes to building sustainable peace and inclusive and accountable state institutions. The following examples illustrate how one aspect of a gender-sensitive approach- the participation of women- can have a positive impact on these processes:

Political inclusion: Statistical and case study analysis suggests that where women are actively involved in peace negotiations, agreement are significantly more likely to be reached and implemented.

Security sector reform: The participation of women can create a more trusted and legitimate security apparatus by bringing in a diversity of skills and competencies.

Women’s economic empowerment: Cross-country analysis has found that conflict-reduction affected communities that experienced the most rapid economic recovery and poverty reduction were those that had greater numbers of women reporting higher level of empowerment.

Basic services and infrastructure: Targeting women as beneficiaries of infrastructure development initiatives, cash transfer and subsidized goods and services enhances the overall effectiveness of these interventions, can reduce gendered poverty and facilitate social and economic cohesion.

Thirdly, gender –sensitivity enhances accountability, inclusion and legitimacy, which are key underlying principles of peace-building and state-building. If all women, girls, men and boys are given space to engage and are empowered to participate, then it is more likely that these processes will address a broader range of issues and be better designed and targeted to meet the needs of all members of society. Women’s organizations have also been shown to play a vital watchdog role in monitoring government actions and holding leaders to account for their actions across a range of sectors, as well as supporting peace and being important agents for change at the community level.

Finally, applying a gender perspective brings important analytical dimension to peace-building and state-building processes, it can help to highlight and target structural and power inequalities that would otherwise remain invisible, particularly the impact of conflict and violence on gender roles and relations. An analysis of conflict that is informed by gender can also contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the needs, vulnerabilities, capacities and opportunities of men, women boys and girls in conflict-affected contexts.

MAY PEACE REIGN IN THE WORLD