ICP ACTION PLAN — LAGOS, NIGERIA

Community State/Province Country Lagos, Nigeria Community Photo Full Name of Contact Ayo Ayoola-Amale Contact Email aayoola215@gmail.com Title of Project “Youth for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence Program” a pilot initiative on restorative practices in schools One to Two Sentence Program Vision City of Peace Value Statement: The City of Peace Initiative (CPI), Lagos believes in creating the beloved community, a vital communal society connected through social ties that bind them together. This social capital builds social networks, joint duties and trust that bind people together and enable them to co-exist. The therapeutic nature of dispute resolution in our traditional African societies is what this social capital is. In Yorubaland for instance, elders aim at restoring the social ties or social capital that had been broken by the wrongs done, committed, or omitted. Without a strong bonding social capital, nation-building will be more challenging. The importance of growth socially, politically, economically, and morally cannot be overemphasized. Morality is the pillar that binds the society of individuals together. The prevalence of moral decay or depravity in various forms will inhibit national development which includes violence, hooliganism, cultism, sexual assaults, terrorism, thuggery armed robbery, etc. corruption perpetrated through embezzlement of public funds, nepotism, fraud, favoritism, tribalism, and political godfatherism amongst many others are negative forces that restrict nation building. In a bid to cushion the rate at which the nation is deteriorating, there is a need to implement a moral system that prescribes the right kind of actions and proscribes the wrong kind of actions; if the objectives of nation-building will be achieved. The system of morality gave the Yoruba ideal iwa Omoluabi as a therapy and panacea for nation-building. Succinctly, moral decadence is due partly to the failure to adhere to the codes of conduct of a society. The low moral standard in Nigeria is indicative of a collapse in keeping the societal traditions, values, beliefs, norms, and ethical standards. Ultimately this state of affairs hampers the progress, peace, unity, and development of the nation. If these moral standards and social ties are respected it would guarantee the existence and effective functioning of the society. Descriptions of Challenges A Problem Statement Violence causes harm to the community. Lagos has a high rate of violence, Inequality fosters criminal, political, and social violence in Nigeria. Because violence disproportionately affects the most vulnerable, it perpetuates and amplifies inequality in various aspects of human development, including rights, income, health, education, and political representation. Violence also impacts economic growth through its impact on individuals, firms, communities, and institutions. Violence is therefore an important factor underlying the high inequality low-growth trap in Nigeria and its eradication requires active policy interventions in several areas. Given the prevalence of violence and its serious impact on human development, Lagos desperately needs restorative practices in schools. This project is geared towards the promotion of Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16): Promote Peaceful and Inclusive Societies for Sustainable Development, Provide Access to Justice for All and Build Effective, Accountable and Inclusive Institutions at All Levels. Violence violates the dignity and the rights of children and youth and a safe society. According to UNICEF’s definition of violence against children, violence is “All forms of physical or mental violence, injury, and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse”. It’s evident from this definition that childhood violence also disrupts the formation of skills and capabilities, and imposes huge human costs on society. Globally, it is estimated that up to a billion children aged 2-17 years have experienced, physical, sexual, or emotional violence or neglect in the past years. The state and Federal Governments must put in place a robust, rights-based child protection system. This should be in place before disaster strikes to prevent or mitigate the increased risks of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children in times of national emergency or a public health crisis. There is not much scientific evidence or data to understand the prevalence of bullying and other forms of violence against children, particularly in schools. In Nigeria, six out of every ten children suffer one or more forms of physical, bullying, sexual, or emotional violence before they reach eighteen years. Data collection is essential for tracking the impact of any emergency. There is therefore a need for systematic data collection and analysis on violence in schools, to understand and track the phenomenon, which would in turn inform decision-making.Legal Framework The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) provides for the protection of children in every sphere. Additionally, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, which Nigeria has ratified and transformed into municipal legislation, may be relied upon to enforce some of the provisions of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy in Nigeria. This is because some rights stipulated in the Charter, such as the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health, and the right to education, respectively, have corresponding provisions in Chapter II of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999. The rights to health and education are undoubtedly very critical for the development of children. At the regional level, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 1990 makes copious provisions for the protection of the child. In the International, sphere, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely human rights treaty in history, currently ratified by most State parties in the world. It focuses on the best interest of the child, non-discrimination, participation, and implementation of the child’s rights. Article 19 provides that State parties shall take all appropriate legislative administrative social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence injury abuse, neglect, or exploitation including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent legal guardians or any other person who has the care of the child. Such protective measures should be, appropriate and include effective procedures for the establishment of social programs to provide necessary support for the child and those who have to care for the child. Nigeria adopted the Child’s Rights Act in 2003 giving legal consent to both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The Child’s Rights Act 2003 expands the scope of human rights bestowed to citizens in the Nigeria 1999 Constitution to children. Longer Project Description Project Rationale/Background Bullying at school causes enormous stress for many children and their families and has long-term effects. School bullying has been identified as a risk factor associated with antisocial and criminal behavior. Bullies are more likely to drop out of school and engage in delinquent and criminal behavior. The victims are more likely to have higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and illness, and an increased tendency to suicide. There is a high incidence of corporal punishment in the education system in Nigeria, six out of every ten children suffer one or more forms of physical, sexual, or emotional violence before they reach eighteen years. Seventy percent of Nigerian children experience violence repeatedly. For instance, various studies reveal that many children have died as a result of corporal punishment in recent times because of its acceptance by our Criminal Procedure Code, the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Act and the Prison Act, the Sharia Law, and Penal Code; all provide for corporal punishment. Hence, despite, the provisions of international treaties, Nigerian legislation is still conducive to corporal punishment. This attitude has led to the death of many children, for instance in Zamfara State, a teenage girl Bariya Ibrahim Magazu was sentenced to 180 lashes for premarital sex in September, 2002.38 While the Sharia Court in Kebbi State ordered fifteen-year-old Abubakar Aloyu’s hand to be amputated for stealing. Physical and Humiliating Punishment of children in Nigeria, such as a high incidence of corporal punishment in the education system beating, many forms of humiliating punishment bullying is violence is a cause of dropout. Violence at home is common and; students were beaten with belts, canes, and rulers. Although we do not have any specific data on sexual violence, anecdotal reports mention various cases among children, but also from teachers to children, some of them resulting in early pregnancies. Bullying is a serious, and insidious, form of violence that plagues the school system, in Nigeria, there are countless tragic stories to be told. There are the consequences of bullying’s ill effects. Those who bully are more likely to drop out of school, use drugs and alcohol, as well as engage in subsequent delinquent and criminal behavior (Farrington 1993). Children who are bullied have higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, illness, and suicidal ideation (Rigby 1998). For both, this cycle becomes an obstacle to learning, self-development, and effective citizenship. The consequences affect not only the individuals themselves, and their families, but also society at large, for it is society that supports those in the justice and health care systems. “Research shows that “abuse and maltreatment can lead to life-long physical and mental health problems, lower educational achievement, and can even affect a child’s brain development. Victims of violence are more likely to become future perpetrators, feeding a cycle that consumes lives.” In addition, there are large economic effects. Countries that do not address issues of violence against children end up losing significant amounts of money. Physical, psychological, and sexual violence against children can cost governments enormous financial burdens. Violence-related mortality is prevalent in Nigeria and significantly contributes to adult mortality. According to statistics from the NW database, Nigeria’s most comprehensive database on lethal violence and human security, Nigeria recorded no fewer than 169 033 violent deaths between 2006 and 2021, with 2014 reporting the highest number (22,873) and Borno state being the most affected, followed by Lagos state. Prevention strategies must be promoted to prevent and intervene to nip in the bud any violence from escalation to lethality. Ultimately, this should help reduce drastically the conflict situations and stop the growing contribution of all forms of violence to Nigeria’s mortality experience. Early intervention has been advocated as the most appropriate way to prevent bullying. Restorative justice in schools in Lagos state is aimed at bringing about behavioral change for the individual while keeping schools and communities safe. The aim of CPI restorative justice, “Youth for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence in Lagos” program is to build a beloved community of responsible citizens and reintegrate those affected by wrongdoing back into the school community as resilient and responsible members. Restorative justice is a form of conflict resolution and seeks to make it clear to the offender that the behavior is not condoned, at the same time as being supportive and respectful of the individual. This project is geared towards promoting the importance of schools as institutions that can foster care and respect and provide opportunities to participate in processes that allow for differences to be worked through constructively. This program proposes that schools be resourced to CPI experts in Restorative Justice who will offer the necessary training, education, and support to address bullying because of the debilitating effect of this problem through the “Youth for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence” program that includes community building, conflict resolution, and shame management, under one conceptual umbrella. First Project Steps • It is a fact that prevention is better and cheaper than reacting to abuse and violence. The transformation from a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention is key to our intervention and projects. “Prevention is not only possible, it is essential. • Enhances the capacity of all to build safer schools, institutions, workplaces, and communities for our children and youth. While there is no doubt about the need to assist victims [of abuse and violence] and to guarantee their safety our priority should always be given to preventive measures. The City of Peace Initiative schools project is integrated, and students are actively involved, along with other stakeholders. We understand the need to ensure child participation is institutionalized and included as a process. Accordingly, the aim for a core and cross-cutting component of a comprehensive, context-specific, rights-based child protection system in compliance with international standards and norms remains our key objective. Essentially, the contribution of education to peace-building is enormous, in social, economic, political, and security, as well as in addressing the root causes of conflict. Therefore, incorporating Restorative Practices into the educational system is very vital. Restorative practices create a mutual understanding of the people and foster good and healthy relationships which promotes collaborations and a good working environment that enhances growth and achievement of a common goal. There are various ways or models in the implementation of Restorative Practice in schools depending on how the facilitator wants to implement it and also as determined by the school culture. In this case, this project will start with Target Groups which means the project will target appropriate stakeholders, Office staff, administrators, parents, and teachers, which in turn shall work together to implement the approach in their schools. To do that, the appropriate Office staff, administrators, teachers, parents, and the student will be trained for three (3) days, and on each day, the participants will spend seven (7) learning hours. • Professional Development There will be ongoing and intensive five days of professional development, that includes role-playing of restorative dialogues, which will be provided for all selected members. To make the five-day training successful, three RJ experts will be from the City of Peace Initiative Restorative Justice department –CPI-RJ to conduct training. This professional development needs to happen every year to expand the number of participants (Teachers) and should be coupled with frequent observation and coaching sessions by the Life Long Skills Education Unit and invitees (CPI-RJ). Professional development should be responsive to school needs. This includes the strategies the team or group is struggling to implement, which students are being targeted, what will work, what will fail, and why. Role-play of the scenarios occurring in the building will be included. School staff members must be prepared to allocate a significant amount of time to restorative practice training and training in philosophies that support Restorative Practices. • Trainers of Trainers (TOT) For the project to be successful and sustainable two (2) schools should be targeted in every local government area two (2) teachers (a male and a female) should be selected from every school and two (2) persons from the juvenile wing to be trained as Trainers of Trainers. This means that, at the end of the exercise at least thirty (30) will be trained in Lagos. These teachers will be coordinators who will monitor the project within the school for the first time, since the project is at the pilot stage, the Restorative Justice Coordinators will work with a team that will participate voluntarily. To do this, multiple staff members share the responsibilities. However, it is important that, at all times, the two trained teachers in the group serve as the Restorative Justice Coordinators, building relationships among the school community. Besides their experience in restorative justice, these persons need to be passionate about the vision, and confident that they can build community and repair trust between teachers and students as stated in School-Wide Restorative Practices. Another important issue, the school should be ready to commence by having prepared volunteers and active full-time Restorative Practice Coordinators, dedicate professional learning time to Restorative Practices and strategies that support it, convince staff to transform school culture, and adhere to this new philosophy. This training of Trainers will be organized annually as the project expands. Who the Project Impacts Students, teachers, parents, youth, communities, other stakeholders and Lagos state. Follow-up Phase II Steps • Sensitization of local government offices and Headteachers/Principals School leaders must believe in the strategy and communicate to the staff the positive expectation that restorative justice practices can yield because some zero-tolerance policies have been the school culture about dealing with students’ and teachers’ cases. So the local government office and head teachers or principals must be clear about the purpose of why restorative practices have been implemented. They should be bold and not be afraid to speak about the consequences of the zero-tolerance policies in school discipline rules and how this policy can lead to the school-to-prison pipeline. The regional office Parents (Parent Teacher Association (PTA), mother club, Village Development Committee (VDC), and head teachers or principals must believe that students’ time in class is a key factor in determining their educational success. These people must believe that teaching social-emotional and conflict-resolution skills will positively affect behavior and improve performance in the building of a healthy and strong relationship and ultimately help to achieve good academic performance. Thereafter, the training which is known as Trainer of Trainers TOT, the Life Long Skills Education unit will hold three days (3 days) meetings with the regional officers and target school head teachers or principals, PTA, Mother clubs, and Village Development Committee (VDC) to discuss the importance and expectation of implementing restorative justice in schools since their roles are very significant as key stakeholders in educational institutions. The head teachers/principals will work with coordinators to ensure staff understanding of restorative practices and why it is being implemented. He/she shall Honor programs and frameworks that are currently in place explain how these programs support restorative justice and maintain the expectation that all staff from the classroom to the discipline office use restorative justice approaches to build relationships and respond to discipline incidents. He/she shall communicate with students, families, and the community as appropriate by working with the Senior Management Committee (SMC) or Parents Teachers Association (PTA), mother clubs, and the VDC about restorative practices. He/she connects with the School Restorative Justice Coordinator Team in weekly communication, takes part in evaluating the Restorative Justice Coordinator Team, and writes reports every term. The Regional officers will be responsible for communicating with the community and evaluating and monitoring the restorative justice program within their regions. This will give more confidence to the coordinators to operate properly. • Peer juries It is important to involve the students’ council in restorative justice practices. The student council consists of the head boy, the head girl, and the student councilors. This body is the leader of the students in every school. The head boy and the head girl from each targeted school shall be trained so that they facilitate circles as peer juries. Since the student councilors are the leaders of the students’ body and they help teachers or school administrators in their work especially when it comes to executing the school rules and regulations. They are responsible for helping the teachers and school administrators to create a restorative school environment and be able to help their fellow students maintain peace in the school. They shall address minor incidents (harms) and strengthen student-to-student relationships with their fellow schoolmates by conducting restorative circles and dialogues or conversations before an incident gets worse. They will also establish a school Restorative Justice club by involving other students and working with school coordinators. Peer conferences and Circles are led by youth to foster leadership and positive peer relationships, which are best practices in youth development. Students can get trained to be peace Ambassadors and handle discipline referrals or learn to co-keep circles in the classrooms. How We Measure Success Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring activities will be coordinated by the Life Long Skills Education Unit, Regional Education Directorate Focal points, and school coordinators and reports circulated to the City of Peace Initiative. Progress reports will also be prepared every quarter and circulated. Likewise, an annual report will be submitted at the end of each year. A checklist will be provided to guide the monitoring process and help prepare reports. External evaluation will be needed at the end of each year. A clear term reference will be drawn. The evaluation process will be carried out with the full involvement of the City of Peace Initiative RJ committee (CPIrj). This process will seek to find out about the behavioral changes. A set of well-defined indicators will be developed. Evaluation will also seek to determine whether there have been unintended outcomes and lessons to be learned for national implementation. Detailed PDF of Project CPI-PROJECT-PROPOSAL-2144c4cd905d60c4c60d24bb1d1f3c59 Community Photo 2 Final Comment Thank you for your consideration.

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