By Atiku Galadima, Maiduguri
The Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development has flagged off the She Builds Peace Campaign 2026 in Maiduguri as part of activities marking the International Day of Peace 2026.
The campaign, which brought together faith-based women organisations and women victims of conflict, was held on Friday under the theme, “She Builds Peace.”
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of the Foundation, Hajiya Hamsatu Allamin, said engagements with women networks had shown that peace agreements were more sustainable when women participated actively in their negotiation and implementation.
She said addressing the root causes of conflict, including the Boko Haram insurgency, required women’s inclusion in post-conflict recovery, particularly in legal protection, healthcare and economic rebuilding.
Allamin urged the Borno State Government, religious and traditional leaders to involve more women in peacebuilding, saying women had remained central to efforts to promote peace and encourage those yet to surrender to lay down their arms.
She said the Foundation had established groups involving women associated with armed groups and children associated with armed conflict to promote peace and social cohesion.
A consultant to the Foundation, Dr Mohammed Abdullahi, said the campaign was anchored on the question, “Why Invest in Peace?”“Peace does not happen automatically.
It requires time, people, relationships, institutions and resources. Peace is not only something we hope for. It is something we build and sustain,” he said.Abdullahi called for dialogue instead of confrontation, prevention instead of waiting for violence, reconciliation instead of prolonged division and inclusion instead of exclusion, while urging stakeholders to support local peacebuilders.
Meanwhile, a member of the Women Mediators in Borno, Agnes Bashir Gadzama, raised concern over the stigma faced by children returning from the bush, stressing that those born during the conflict were innocent.
She urged women and mothers to teach their children to accept the returnees and avoid hate speech that could create tensions in host communities.
Another member, Ya Kime Gado, called for greater support for women returning from Sambisa Forest, appealing to landlords to reduce house rents by 50 per cent to facilitate their reintegration and encourage others to surrender.
Also speaking, leader of the Jire Dole Network of victims’ mothers and wives, Comrade Hajja Suleiman, called for justice for people allegedly detained during indiscriminate arrests between 2011 and 2015.
“There are still innocent children who were accused of Boko Haram activities and they are in detention in Kainji,” she said, calling for speedy investigation and justice.
Suleiman said mothers had an important role to play in promoting peace and supporting the reintegration of returnees.
