Name of organization:
Leadership Initiative for Youth Empowerment (LIFE)
Description of Organization:
LIFE works in Nigeria since 2012 to empower young people with life skills, information and capacity building to promote their self-actualization. The organization’s key areas of work are: human rights, leadership, peacebuilding and intercultural learning.
Context:
Due to the current insurgency challenges in Nigeria, over 185,000 Nigerians have been displaced from North-Eastern Nigeria. Over 40% of the internally displaced persons are young Muslims looked upon with suspicion in view of the religious undertones of the violence in Northern Nigeria. As a result there has been increased religious intolerance and violence targeted at internally displaced persons in six Local Government Areas of Lagos State.
Proposed Project and Expected Results:
Leadership Initiative for Youth Empowerment (LIFE) through its Volunteer Corps intends to intervene in this challenge. Specifically, LIFE will train young people from the Muslim community of internally displaced persons and young people from the local community, including Christians and others, to serve as Intercultural Ambassadors. These ambassadors will serve as interns in churches and mosques and will implement community events to promote understanding and tolerance. The project aims at promoting intercultural learning as a key element for peace in Lagos State. By the end of the project LIFE expects to:
- Train 60 youth representatives to act as intercultural ambassadors and increase intercultural learning among internally displaced persons and community residents in 6 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Lagos State Nigeria;
- Raise awareness on the importance of intercultural and interreligious learning for peaceful co-existence for 3,000 young people and 30,000 community members in 6 LGAs;
- Organize 5-month internships for the 60 intercultural ambassadors in 30 religious organizations;
- Offer 4 awareness-raising sessions on intercultural learning for peaceful co-existence to 1,200 participants in 6 LGAs.
Project coordinator: Ms. Abiodun Rufus-Unegbu
Contact information: life.nig@gmail.com
Website: www.lifenig.wordpress.com