The Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) Programme has commended Nigeria on the launch of its third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, known as NAP III, and pledged support for its implementation. The commendation was given at the official launch of NAP III in Abuja, spearheaded by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
Dr Ukoha Ukiwo, Team Lead of the Tetra Tech SPRiNG Programme, made the pledge while speaking on the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325. He explained that the SPRiNG Programme is an initiative of the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), designed to support efforts to build a more stable Nigeria with reduced violence and stronger resilience to climate change impacts.
Ukiwo said the SPRiNG Programme was honoured to be part of the development of Nigeria’s third NAP on Women, Peace and Security and congratulated the country and the Ministry of Women Affairs for the milestone. He described the process as collaborative and inclusive.
According to him, “SPRING is committed to partnerships to strengthen implementation of NAP especially as it relates to reforms in peace, justice, and security institutions aimed at strengthening women’s inclusion, institutional accountability, and community-centred security.” He added, “SPRIING is also working to complement government-led efforts to curtail vulnerability of young women and young men to radicalisation, SGBV, and institutionalising women’s meaningful inclusion and participation in peace and security governance and decision-making.”
Ukiwo said that to ensure the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) commitments in the third NAP are met, SPRiNG is supporting the implementation of relevant policies and legislation, including State and Local Action Plans on WPS.
“As Nigeria launches and adopts its third NAP today, SPRING calls for more concerted effort to advance gender-responsive and disability-inclusive peace, justice and security architecture,” Ukiwo said. “This should be where security sector institutions systematically embed inclusion, accountability, prevention, and resilience into policy and practice.”
He emphasised that institutionalising women’s participation across peace, justice and security sectors, and ensuring accessibility for persons with disabilities, remained essential to effective service delivery, public trust and leaving no one behind. He reaffirmed the commitment of the SPRiNG Programme to partnerships with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and other stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of NAP III alongside state and local development plans.
Ukiwo promised that the programme would ensure inclusive, evidence-driven and locally responsive Women, Peace and Security action in Nigeria. He congratulated the Government of Nigeria on the milestone and commended the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs for delivering a consultative and forward-looking NAP III, while acknowledging UN Women and other partners.
He explained that SPRiNG Programme interventions are aimed at achieving enhanced capacity, improved public confidence and increased patronage of peace, security and justice institutions. He said the programme focuses on grievance management, conflict resolution and violence prevention, including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
Ukiwo noted that the initiative also aims to strengthen the capacity of government, security agencies and communities to tackle drivers of violence such as drug and substance peddling and abuse, weapons proliferation, divisive narratives, hate speech and social exclusion. He said SPRiNG also supports efforts to address barriers affecting women’s participation in peace efforts, politics and community governance, as well as access to economic opportunities.
“Through our partnership with Nigerian institutions, we are supporting initiatives that strengthen peacebuilding mechanisms, promote non-kinetic security responses, and advance women’s economic empowerment and participation in peace, justice, and security governance,” Ukiwo added.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Ibrahim-Sulaiman, commended the Tetra Tech SPRiNG Programme for supporting the development of NAP III. She said the launch was a reaffirmation of a national promise shaped by 30 years since the Beijing Platform for Action of 1995, 30 years of the Ministry of Women Affairs in Nigeria, and 25 years since the adoption of UNSCR 1325 in 2000.
“These milestones converge here as a vivid reminder that peace is strongest, most enduring and most just when women are present, when women are heard and when women are empowered to lead the process,” she said. “Nigeria’s third national action plan on women, peace and security stands on a deliberate and progressive continuum.”
Ibrahim-Sulaiman said the launch of NAP III, approved by President Bola Tinubu, aligned national efforts with global realities and anchored them within the renewed hope agenda. She said this places women, children, families and vulnerable groups at the centre of national stability, inclusive governance and sustainable peace. The event drew stakeholder participation.
