Listen to the appeal.
Aminatta’s work has featured the themes of war and conflict, and travelling to and from Sierra Leone over many years, she has seen the devastation first hand. Here, she explains why she supported our appeal.
In the appeal, Aminatta described how our work with youth in Nigeria provides training, mentoring and support to turn young people away from violence and instead, encourage them to become leaders for peace.
The northeast of Nigeria is an area ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency. Young people are at the heart of the conflict – either as victims, defenders or perpetrators of violence.
Aminatta tells the story of one such young woman, Badawiya, whose life was transformed when she joined a Youth Peace Platform, after being orphaned and then recruited by Boko Haram.
The Youth Peace Platforms provide the young people with the skills and confidence to reconnect with their communities – challenging the negative stereotypes many people hold of them. With encouragement, the youth are now mediating community disputes themselves and are leading the way in repairing relationships damaged by violence and mistrust.
We work around the world with people who have the bravery to stand up to the violence they see around them. We support similar community peace groups in other countries, including in the Central African Republic, Kenya and the Philippines. Working directly with the politicians and others in power, we ensure that those affected by conflict have a voice on how to respond to the violence.
Together, these initiatives are making a real difference. Help us to end the cycles of violence.
With conflict on the rise, we urgently need your help to do more. £30 could provide training in conflict mediation to thirty young people, somewhere like Nigeria.
Get involved:
Listen in - You can listen to the BBC Radio 4 Appeal online here.
Donate - £30 could provide training in conflict mediation to thirty young people, somewhere like Nigeria. Donate here.
