From AMEDU JOSEPH, Lokoja
An International non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mercy Corps, has urged stakeholders to sustain the Kogi Security and Peace Network (KOSPEN) initiated by the organisation in communities in the state.
Mr Terseer Bamber, the Senior Programme Officer, Mercy Corps, made the call in Lokoja at a stakeholders’ meeting to review the impact of the activities of KOSPEN in Kogi.
Bamber described KOSPEN as an umbrella body of all the NGOs working in the line of security and peace initiated by Mercy Corps in February 2023 in the state.
The Senior Programme Officer described the Mercy Corps as a leading global community of humanitarians to create a future where everyone can prosper.
He stressed that the organisation remains a global team of humanitarians working together on the frontlines of crisis, disaster, poverty, and climate change.
He noted that Mercy Corps was rounding up the KOSPEN project in Kogi, hence the need to have a round-table discussion with the stakeholders on its sustainability.
Bamber added that the meeting was to also see how the programme could be linked with other structures of Mercy Corps on peace and security in Kogi State.
He, therefore implored the stakeholders and the citizens to take ownership of the project to ensure sustenance of peace, unity and security across the state.
Also speaking, Mr Reuben Joshua, the Coordinator of KOSPEN, commended Mercy Corps for the initiative. He added that stakeholders are committed to the sustenance of the initiative.
According to him, the network will ensure the continuous implementation of the initiative and mediate peace in communities in conflicts and crises prone areas even after the exit of mercy corps
Joshua, who doubles as the Executive Director, Iko-Josh Empowerment Foundation (I-JEF), advised the youths to embrace peace and avoid being the agents of violence and crisis in their various communities.
The representative of other NGOs in their separate remarks, highlighted the numerous positive impacts that the network had made in Kogi communities affected by the crisis.
They promised to continue to collaborate with other critical stakeholders to ensure the sustenance of the project, while calling on governments at all levels and corporate organisations to support the peace initiative.
