The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has launched a pilot project in Benue State, North-Central Nigeria, aimed at strengthening women’s economic empowerment and advancing digital peacebuilding at the community level.
The initiative targets Women, Peace and Security (WPS) community-based organizations and comes at a time when local capacities are increasingly seen as critical to addressing conflict, displacement, and social cohesion challenges across the region.
According to information shared by ECOWAS, the project is being implemented through its Directorate of Trade, in collaboration with the Directorate of Humanitarian and Social Affairs, and in partnership with the Government of Benue State.
The initiative also benefits from the technical support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), underscoring a multi-stakeholder approach that brings together regional, national, and international actors.
ECOWAS’ collaboration with IOM provides technical depth to the initiative, particularly in areas related to migration, displacement, and community stabilization.
IOM’s involvement aligns with its broader mandate to support displaced populations and strengthen community resilience, complementing ECOWAS’ regional leadership role.
The partnership highlights the importance of coordinated responses to complex challenges that cut across humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding domains.
The pilot focuses on equipping women-led and women-focused organizations with skills that bridge economic empowerment and digital peacebuilding. By combining these two areas, ECOWAS aims to support women not only as beneficiaries of development programmes, but as active agents of peace and economic resilience within their communities.
The approach reflects the broader WPS agenda, which emphasizes the importance of women’s participation in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and post-conflict recovery.
The project is being launched alongside a five-day capacity-building programme running from 9 to 13 February. Central to this programme is a Training of Trainers (ToT) component designed to create a ripple effect beyond the initial participants.
ECOWAS explained that the ToT targets 12 participants, drawn from community-based organizations, civil society organizations, and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
Specifically, the training brings together three staff members each from selected community-based organizations, civil society organizations, and IDP camps. This mix is intended to foster collaboration across different levels of community engagement, while ensuring that skills acquired during the programme can be adapted to diverse contexts. By focusing on trainers rather than only end beneficiaries, the initiative seeks to build sustainable local capacity that can endure beyond the pilot phase.
Step-down Trainings Expected To Reach 60 Women And Girls
Following the Training of Trainers, the project will roll out step-down trainings expected to reach 60 women and girls from selected IDP camps and their host communities.
These step-down sessions are designed to transfer knowledge and skills directly to women affected by displacement and conflict, many of whom face limited access to economic opportunities and digital tools. Through this model, ECOWAS aims to ensure that the benefits of the programme extend to grassroots levels where needs are often most acute.
The focus on IDP camps and host communities is particularly significant. By targeting women and girls in these settings, the project addresses the intersecting challenges of displacement, economic vulnerability, and social fragmentation. Empowering women in such contexts can contribute broader community peacebuilding.
The inclusion of digital peacebuilding as a core component reflects the growing role of digital tools in conflict prevention and social cohesion.
While the details of the digital training were not elaborated, the emphasis suggests an intention to help women leverage digital platforms for dialogue, early warning, advocacy, and economic activities. In an increasingly connected environment, such skills can amplify women’s voices and enhance their ability to contribute to peace and development processes.
For ECOWAS, the initiative represents both a practical intervention and a statement of intent, reinforcing its commitment to the Women, Peace and Security agenda and to locally driven solutions.
In launching the project, ECOWAS has signaled that women’s economic participation and digital engagement are not peripheral issues, but central components of peacebuilding and social stability.
The success of the pilot could offer a model for how targeted capacity-building can empower women and strengthen peace.
