In most of Nigeria’s formal peace processes, women are invited to attend. They sit at the back. They are rarely asked to speak. When agreements are reached, their names are not on the documents. ENPUAI’s work in Delta State is deliberately, systematically changing this pattern.
Since 2022, ENPUAI has trained over 200 women across Delta’s twenty-five local government areas as Community Peace Facilitators — not participants, but leaders of peace processes. The training is intensive: ten days covering facilitation, conflict analysis, women’s rights in peace processes, trauma-informed approaches, and documentation.
The results have been striking. In eight documented cases of inter-community conflict in Delta State in 2023–2024, ENPUAI-trained women facilitators led the primary dialogue process. In five of those cases, agreements were reached within forty-eight hours. In the other three, the conflicts were de-escalated and referred to state mediation bodies with detailed community analysis prepared by the women’s teams.
Ngozi Okafor, a trained ENPUAI facilitator from Oshimili South LGA, has facilitated fourteen community dialogues since her training in 2022. She sits on the Delta State Conflict Resolution Advisory Committee. She trains other women. She mentors secondary school students in her community on peace education.
“Women see conflict differently because we live with its consequences differently,” Ngozi says. “We lose sons, we lose husbands, we lose the ability to move freely. We have every reason in the world to fight for peace — and ENPUAI gave us the tools to do it effectively.”
“When women lead the dialogue, the community trusts the outcome more. We are not seen as taking sides. We are seen as protecting the community.” — Ngozi Okafor, ENPUAI Facilitator, Delta State