By: David Abigail
CLEEN Foundation has commenced a three-day Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Stakeholder Inception Training and is set to formally inaugurate 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, seeks to strengthen the domestication and execution of Nigeria’s National Action Plan (NAP) on WPS.
It aims to address persistent gendered impacts of conflict, insecurity, and governance gaps that continue to disproportionately affect women and girls across the country, particularly in the North-Central and South-East regions.
Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, Peter Maduoma, who spoke through Programme Manager, Chigozirim Okoro, during the day-one session of the training in Kaduna State, said that despite notable national commitments to the WPS agenda, implementation at the sub-national level has remained 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 stated.
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.
The committees will be responsible for planning, overseeing, and monitoring WPS interventions in their respective states, ensuring alignment with the national framework while adapting strategies to local contexts.
According to CLEEN Foundation, the committees will also track state-level commitments through the Security Accountability Project (SAP), strengthen collaboration among institutions, and promote gender-sensitive decision-making in peace and security processes.
The ongoing inception 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 to guide the operationalization of WPS commitments.
Each state training is expected to host at least 30 participants drawn from the Ministries of Women Affairs, Justice, and Internal Security; State Houses of Assembly gender committees; the Police, DSS, Civil Defence, Correctional Service, and the military; faith-based organizations; traditional institutions; media stakeholders; and members of WPS, 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 the five states, CLEEN Foundation anticipates strengthened coordination, improved accountability, increased visibility of WPS commitments, and enhanced engagement of women and youth in peace and security decision-making processes.
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