NGO trains stakeholders on restorative justice

The Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), of the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos, has organised a training on Restorative Justice for selected stakeholders in Plateau.

Declaring the workshop open on Friday in Jos, Rev. Fr. Basil Kassam, the Project Manager of the organisation known as “Pluralism Actors”, said the training was part of its project, ”Incubators of Pluralism Actors in Nigeria”.

Kassam said that the project, supported by Observatoire Pharos, a French organisation, is being implemented in 12 communities of six local government areas (LGAs), of Plateau and Bauchi states.

He added that Observatoire Pharos was currently supporting similar projects in Niger Republic, Burkina Faso and Mali.

He explained the project would target largely young people, between ages 18 and 30 years, with the aim of de-escalating conflicts in the communities

“This project is to provide tangible support towards building peaceful coexistence in communities affected by conflicts.

“The project will have a deeper look at aspects of religious and cultural dimensions of conflicts to intensify social cohesion.

“It is designed to provide solutions to the religious and cultural conflicts that we are currently going through.

“So, this training is part of preparation towards the proper implementation of the projects in communities,” he said.

Kassam explained that the participants for the training were specifically the Chief Executive Officers of the 20 organisations that formed a network collectively implementing the project in benefitting communities.

The project manager added that at the end of the two-day training, participants would understand the concept of restorative justice and its application in promoting pluralism.

He said the training would equip and expand the knowledge and skills of participants on financial management by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

“This training will help participants understand the organisational readiness to access grants, strengthen internal financial culture of organisations, and improve on financial management skills and systems of CSOs,” he said.

Facilitating the training, Mr John Danboyi, Executive Director of Peace Training Centre (PTC), defined restorative justice as a theory of justice that emphasised on repairing the harm caused by criminal behaviour, usually accomplished through cooperative processes.

Danboyi added that it was a system of criminal justice, which focused on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation, with the victims and the community at large.

“Restorative justice refers to an approach to a justice system that seeks to repair harm by providing opportunities for those harmed, and those who take responsibility of the crime and address their needs in the aftermath of the crime,” he said.

According to reports, Catherine Bossard and Matthieu Barlet, the Director and Project Manager of Pharos Observatoire rewspectively, who were on a working visit to Nigeria, participated in the training.