At the heart of the wide range of social, economic and security crises facing the Diffa region, in southeast Niger, a major problem with significant destabilizing potential has arisen: the reintegration of repentants and other persons detained as part of the fight against Boko Haram. In December 2016, the Ministry of Interior announced the launch of an amnesty plan for the reintegration of Boko Haram voluntary repentants to encourage Boko Haram members to defect the group and surrender to the authorities. In addition to these repentants, the armed forces arrested some 1,400 people as part of the military counter-offensive conducted by the Nigerien army in the Diffa region.
Within this context, we are leading activities to support the individual transformation and peaceful reintegration of the repented Boko Haram prisoners in the transit center for repentants of Goudoumaria and the prisons of Kollo and Koutoukalé. Funded by the European Union, the project “Kallo Lenio, Klla Founna: Ensemble, avançons vers l’avenir!” (Together, let’s move towards the future!) is under the patronage of the Haute Autorité à la Consolidation de la Paix(High Authority for the Consolidation of Peace) and is part of the national program for the reintegration of repentants of the Ministry of the Interior.
This process of reintegration is extremely sensitive and requires appropriate support, as well as opportunities to develop the skills needed to return to life in the community. Kallo Lenio, Klla Founna uses a multidimensional approach to support the individual and collective transformation of the Boko Haram repentants and detainees throughvarious activities, such as group discussions, participatory theater, mobile cinema sessions, sports, and psychosocial therapy.
“I thought I would never see my family again. But when the activities started, this feeling changed. Today, I have regained the hope to return”, said a repentant. These activities reduce the participants’ stress, improve their physical and mental health, create positive relationships, and help participants relearn the communities’ rules and habits. “It helps us to dispel our stress and heal from our wounds”, said another repentant. Among the participants surveyed in Goudamaria’s transit center for repentants, 90% of them consider that the activities contribute to their personal development.
Furthermore, the project provides social capacity-building activities and vocational training to increase socio-professional opportunities for the repentants, the released and current prisoners, and 600 youth from the communities of origin and return.Finally, the project strengthens social cohesion in return communities by improving access to information about the reintegration of the repented and alleged Boko Haram detainees.
Read the photo stories (in French):
Kallo Lenio, Klla Founna
|
Learn more about the re-integration of former Boko Haram combatants with these resources (in French):
Activités Sportives: un outil de transformation individuelle
|
L’Historie de Ya Koura
|
Soutenir la réinsertion des individus affiliés au groupe Boko Haram
|
