As part of its commitment to restorative justice and community-led peacebuilding, the Global Alliance for Community-Based Restorative Justice (GACRB) brought its Sulhu step-down training to Goni Damgari community in Maiduguri on 15 September 2015.
The Sulhu initiative equips local committees with skills to promote dialogue, reconciliation, and social cohesion—essential in communities fractured by more than a decade of Boko Haram insurgency. By training Sulhu Committee members, GACRB
aims to create trusted local mediators who can foster understanding and reduce tensions at the grassroots level.
“Fostering social cohesion is not just about ending violence—it is about rebuilding trust and creating pathways for communities to live together again,” explained a GACRB programme lead.
The initiative is supported by the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF), which is enabling GACRB to localise transitional justice approaches across Northeast Nigeria. Over the next six months, Sulhu step-down trainings will be rolled out in 18 communities across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States, reaching more than 600 beneficiaries.
For residents of Goni Damgari, the training marks a hopeful step towards reconciliation and sustainable peace. By empowering local actors to lead dialogue, the project ensures that communities are not just recipients of peacebuilding interventions, but active drivers of their own healing.