Call for Application: Consultant to develop a national toolkit on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) and Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration(DDR)/Screening, Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (SPRR)
Search for Common Ground, Nigeria

Search for Common GroundSearch is an international conflict transformation NGO that aims to transform the way individuals, groups, governments and companies deal with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative solutions. Headquartered in Washington DC, USA, and Brussels, Belgium, with 52 field offices in 29 countries, Search designs and implements multifaceted, culturally appropriate and conflict-sensitive programs using a diverse range of tools, including media and training, to promote dialogue, increase knowledge and determine a positive shift in behaviours.
The ProjectThis project will strategically invest resources into creating a comprehensive and actionable toolset on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)/Screening, Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (SPRR) and Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) for diverse stakeholders to operationalize at the country level in Nigeria, with subsequent potential for replication and scale-up across the region. The decision to create this toolset reflects needs cited in Search’s ongoing engagement in Nigeria communities, traditional leaders, local authorities, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and other key actors in the sector.
Additionally, a participatory assessment of Violent Extremism (VE) across the Northern zones of Nigeria, and how violence interrelates across these zones, remains both a gap and a need. As such, Search proposes to curate knowledge and mobilize networking and strategy planning for PVE and DDR/SPRR processes in Nigeria that focus on community-centred, holistic approaches. Building a country-specific toolset that addresses the diverse, but interrelated PVE and DDR/SPRR needs across the various regions of Northern Nigeria, will ensure value for money in that it will fill a critical gap in Nigeria and act as an engagement and networking tool for actors to mobilize around throughout the project and beyond.
As such, this process will:1. Result in an actionable toolset to mobilize regional engagement, networking, and planning for PVE and DDR/SPRR across Nigeria’s northern zones;2. Support future engagement and scale up as a way to operationalize key components of the Lake Chad Basin Regional Stabilization Strategy as well as other relevant strategies such as local peace deals, etc.; and3. Ensure international, national, and community stakeholders are tailoring PVE and DDR/SPRR interventions based on knowledge exchange and coherence of approach.
In addition, the rationale to combine both PVE and DDR/SPRR processes into one toolkit recognizes the cyclical life cycle of violent extremism and will promote comprehensive strategies that are working in synergy with one another. For instance, the push and pull factors that promote violent extremism are often closely related to SPRR needs (both of host communities and those being reintegrated), which and if remain unaddressed, can promote recidivism and/or community rejection of those being reintegrated. For instance, lack of economic opportunities, poverty, and loss of livelihoods are often pushing factors for individuals to join VEOs, while economic reintegration of those being reintegrated alongside economic empowerment of host communities is an important component of effective SPRR.
Goal: To improve community centred PVE and DDR, SPRR processes across Nigeria’s Northern geopolitical zones.
Objectives and Results
Objective 1: To develop a toolkit for PVE and reintegration across Nigeria’s northern geopolitical zones.ER 1.1 Key stakeholders are equipped with an action-oriented, cross-sectoral toolkit that reflects a diversity of local perspectives on PVE and reintegration needs in Nigeria.Objective 2: To foster cross-sectoral coordination among and between diverse national, zonal, and community level stakeholders for PVE and the reintegration of ex-combatants and defectors of VEOs and armed groups.ER2.1 Strengthened multi stakeholder engagement (civil society, cross-sectoral actors, traditional leaders, local authorities, institutions, media, etc.) to coordinate on PVE and reintegration strategies.
Key Questions of the Study
1. What are the current and past efforts, results, key lessons, and gaps on PVE and DDR/SPRR in Northern Nigeria?2. What are the drivers and risk factors of violence extremism recruitment techniques and radicalization process in the project target areas?3. What is the conflict dynamics in the project targeted areas and how are women, men and youth affected by these dynamics? How do/could these dynamics influence PVE and DDR/SPRR programming?4. What is the perception of, and readiness of communities for PVE and DDR/SPRR programming, based on their peculiar contexts? What does the project need to address to improve this perception and readiness?5. What perspectives on DDR/SPRR and PVE do women and youths (male and female) h