The ActionAid Nigeria has held the first graduation ceremony of its Humanitarian Development and Peace (HDP) Nexus Practitioners Academy.
The academy, which the NGO runs in collaboration with American University of Nigeria (AUN), Nasarawa State University Kedfi (NSUK), and University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), is structured to pioneer initiatives aimed at fostering innovative strategies in humanitarianism, sustainable development and peace building.
The academy is a product of the Humanitarian-Peace-Development Nexus, also called ‘The New Ways of Working’, which was introduced after the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit and which seeks to address disjointed nature of humanitarian relief, development assistance, peacekeeping, and peace building.
According to ActionAid, the graduates of the HDP Nexus Academy, selected from across various sectors, took training designed to build capacity for addressing the complex challenges posed by crises and conflicts around Nigeria.
During the graduation ceremony at the AUN Yola at the weekend, the Country Director of ActionAid, Mr Andrew Mamedu,bsaid efforts through the HDP Nexus and the academy in particular reflect ActionAid’s commitment to nurturing innovative approaches to humanitarian responses, sustainable development, and peace efforts.
The country director, represented on the occasion by David Habba, said Nigeria stands at a critical time when the HDP Nexus is most important.
“We need a new way of working,” he stressed, adding that the graduates from the HDP Nexus Practitioners Academy had been equiped with insights to integrate HDP Nexus principles in their respective spheres of influence.
He said it was to address the challenges of disjointed responses to challenges that ActionAid Nigeria partnered with UniMaid, AUN, and NSUK and established the HDP Practitioners Academy Campus to provide training and capacity building for HDP practitioners and communities.