Search for Common Ground, an organisation dedicated to sustaining peace in the Niger Delta region, has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that the region’s youths are gainfully employed as a way to reduce violence and criminality.

The organisation disclosed that it is pursuing this goal through the establishment and strengthening of community peace architecture, which now exists at both community and state levels across the region. With funding support from the European Union, Search for Common Ground is implementing a series of livelihood and empowerment projects aimed at addressing economic and social challenges faced by young people in the area.

In a statement issued over the weekend by Sunny Dada, Mass Media & Information Management Coordinator for the region, the organisation explained that its efforts are part of an 18-month peacebuilding project titled “Community-Centered Approach to Transforming Criminality and Violence in the Niger Delta”, which spans Rivers, Delta, and Bayelsa states.

According to the statement, the project is currently active in 66 communities across 33 local government areas and is focused on strengthening peace through sustainable development and community empowerment.

A key component of the initiative includes the execution of various livelihood support projects tailored to meet both economic needs and infrastructural deficits in local communities. These projects include the construction of cassava and palm oil processing mills, markets, lock-up shops, solar-powered boreholes, fishing nets, and solar-powered toilets.

“These interventions, which were directly nominated by the project communities, represent a body of local solutions and are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” the statement noted.

In addition to infrastructure, the project also prioritizes human capacity development through targeted skill acquisition and empowerment programmes. Beneficiaries are undergoing practical training in trades such as fashion design, information and communications technology (ICT), pipeline welding, and fabrication.

Several communities have already hosted official groundbreaking ceremonies for the projects, while in others, construction is nearing completion. Community leaders and residents have expressed optimism that these interventions will significantly improve local livelihoods and enhance social cohesion, thereby promoting long-term peace.

“All these empowerment initiatives are focused on the goal of improving employability and reducing youth vulnerability to violence and criminality,” the statement added.

Search for Common Ground and its consortium partners say the initiative is a coordinated effort to address the root causes of conflict through inclusive development and local ownership.