Call for Application: Film Producer/Director Consultant for Youth Fellowship COMITAS Project
Search for Common Ground, Nigeria

BACKGROUND
To contribute to the mitigation of conflict over natural resources between Farmer and Herder communities in Adamawa state, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Search for Common Ground (Search) and Mercy Corps, with funding from the European Union, are implementing a project titled COMITAS (Contributing to the mitigation of conflict over natural resources between farmer and herder communities in Adamawa State).
The consortium has designed a comprehensive and integrated approach that builds on the comparative strengths of each organisation. IOM will build on its data collection experiences in northeast Nigeria and globally to implement a transhumance tracking tool to strengthen early warning systems. IOM will also build on its extensive policy engagements with the government of Nigeria, most notably with regards to the Disengagement, Disassociation, Reintegration, and Reconciliation programme and action plan. Search will build on its extensive work on early warning and response, trust-building through dialogue, and promoting positive perceptions through reliable information and peace messaging. Mercy Corps will capitalize on its trusted relationships with local stakeholders across Nigeria’s Middle Belt to continue to empower communities to prevent and respond to violence by strengthening collaboration on natural resource management.
Search’s Peace Architecture model, a successful model across its programming in Nigeria, Niger, and Mali, establishes interconnected, multi-stakeholder, and community-inclusive dialogue-to-action platforms. In Nigeria, these platforms operate at three levels of engagement: the community, local government area, and state levels. Each platform comprises relevant stakeholders within each level of engagement, where they convene to discuss and jointly address peace and security challenges. Since the platforms are established at the community, local government, and state levels, they are able to both address and respond to needs within each level, as well as coordinate among and between each other to share information and develop holistic responses to peace and security challenges.These platforms are designed to support trust-building, collective action, and mutual accountability among diverse stakeholders for lasting change. Search regularly trains members of these platforms on the Common Ground Approach, conflict mediation, transformative dialogue, and conflict prevention and other capacities. These platforms are effective in addressing transhumance-related conflicts, where solutions require the participation of diverse stakeholders.
FILM PRODUCTION AND YOUTH MENTORSHIP PROGRAMOBJECTIVESpecific Objective 4: Improved Intra and inter-communal perceptions
The media plays an important role in shaping public opinion and can therefore be regarded as an influential factor in shaping Intra and inter-communal perceptions. However, reports on the conflict between farmer and herder communities are often subjective and lack the appropriate level of analysis. Furthermore, fake news has been on the rise, often fuelling divisive narratives. In terms of COVID-19, this may lead to rumours or false accusations about the transmission of the virus. Therefore, this project will aim to improve Intra and inter-communal perception through unbiased reporting and peace messaging, including some basic messages about COVID-19 in case the need arises. The film production will serve this overall project objective through the development of a quality and engaging product that will bring unbiased peace messaging and improvement of intra- and inter-communal perceptions to a wider audience across Nigeria while inculcating young media fellow with a drive to utilize the medium of film to foster peace.
Result 4.1 Improved access to reliable public informationActivity 4.1.2 Support youth leaders in promoting peace through social media and film
The first component of activity 4.1.2 is a youth fellowship program, engaging youth leaders with a significant presence on social media, training them in transformative leadership, construction social media presence, and non-violent communication, then providing them with a stipend to develop media that counters divisive narratives. To reinforce this fellowship program and to further harness the power of the media to build peace and counter divisive narratives, the fellows will support a film company in the development of a film production reinforcing the core messages of the product, while simultaneously benefitting from the mentorship experience of working with a film company to build their capacity as youth media leaders committed to using their voices to reinforce peace in Nigeria.
METHODOLOGY
Search will contract a film company to work with all youth leaders on a short film or documentary that integrates peaceful narratives and diverse voices promoting unity between farmer and