IOM gives 35 Katsina community members phones to strengthen conflict prevention

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The International Organisation for Migration, in partnership with Mercy Corps and the Centre for Democracy and Development, has intensified efforts to strengthen community-based conflict prevention mechanisms in Katsina State by equipping community contact persons with mobile phones and power banks to improve early warning and response.

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Speaking with journalists during a refresher training for community contact persons under the Conflict Prevention, Crisis Response and Resilience Programme, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Policy Instrument, in Batsari Local Government Area on Wednesday, IOM field team representative, Talatu Gambo, said the programme was designed to improve participants’ capacity to report conflict-related incidents, support early warning and early response mechanisms, and monitor movements along transhumance corridors.

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According to her, the exercise was organised to reinforce the knowledge and responsibilities of community contact persons who serve as the link between local communities and conflict response structures.

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“They are responsible for responding to alerts, providing timely alerts for the conflict prevention structures to act upon, and monitoring the movement of transhumance along the corridors,” she said.

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Gambo explained that the programme deliberately uses the term community contact persons instead of key informants to reflect its community-centred approach.

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She said participants also received additional guidance on data collection, incident reporting and providing feedback on the outcomes of conflict response interventions.

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“The training is also to empower them with communication gadgets such as mobile phones and power banks. These tools will enable them to provide alerts promptly, share feedback on conflict situations, report whether incidents were resolved or not, and support their activities alongside the Technical Support Committees and local government structures,” she added.

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A total of 35 community contact persons, also known as Community Peace and Resilience Committee members, from project implementation communities in the local government benefited from the training.

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The participants were drawn from seven project communities and strategic transhumance corridors where seasonal movements of herders and livestock frequently occur.

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Gambo noted that the contact persons also support Transhumance Flow Monitoring by observing and reporting population and livestock movements that could influence resource competition or trigger tensions between farming and pastoral communities.

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She said the CPCRR Programme seeks to strengthen community resilience by enhancing local capacities for conflict prevention, crisis response and peaceful coexistence in Katsina and Zamfara states.

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According to her, through improved early warning systems, timely information sharing and community engagement, the programme aims to reduce the risk of violence, strengthen trust among stakeholders and support evidence-based responses to emerging conflict trends.

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