Request for Application (RFA) at Search for Common Ground (SFCG)

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organization that promotes the peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC, and a European office in Brussels, Belgium, SFCG’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. 

SFCG seeks to help conflicting parties understand their differences and act on their commonalities. With approximately 600 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects from 50 offices in 35 countries, including Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.

Applications are invited for:

Title: Request for Application (RFA) - Live Streaming Video Services For National Convening at Search for Common Ground (SFCG) 

Search for Common Ground is planning a hybrid national convening of stakeholders on urban violence from across 4 States in Nigeria, namely Kano, FCT, Lagos, and Rivers, with physical and virtual participants. To this end, the services of a live-streaming video services company will be needed to carry out this hybrid production event effectively.   

About this Project

The overall goal of this project is to bring credible, relevant, and timely insights from peace-building scholarship and practice to address the pressing challenges facing Africa. In that process, Search is fostering stronger linkages between academia, peace-building practitioners and policy makers.

About the National Convening of Stakeholders on Urban Violence

The convening will focus on the key risks of the degeneration of social cohesion and  violence as Nigeria’s major urban centers continue to expand rapidly. The purpose will be to harvest best practices in addressing urban violence holistically from experts across various disciplines and develop joint guidance for national and international policy decision-makers on better supporting peace-building in urban centers in the coming years. 

In the coming decades, the population of Nigeria’s urban centers is growing at a  nearly unimaginable scale. If current trends continue, Lagos is on track to become the world’s largest metropolis, growing from a population of 15 million today to more than 80 million by 2100. The growth of megacities like Lagos has been fueled by population growth and vast migration from rural areas as Nigerians flee from violence (such as Boko Haram in the NE or farmer-herder conflicts in the Middle Belt) for economic opportunities in the cities. While these rural crises have received attention from both the governments in Nigeria and the international communities, insufficient attention has been paid to the rising risks of violence in Nigeria’s urban centers. 

Cities such as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano, Lagos, and Port Harcourt have become hotspots for violent and organized crime (including gender-based violence). Amid nationwide economic hardships, these cities seen as industrial hubs have not met the demand for jobs from youth and rural migrants, proliferation of substance abuse and gang activity are on the rise, and the resources allocated for police to keep the streets safe for such a large population is limited. Urbanization has displaced many marginalized communities from their homes. There has not been a sufficient investment in urban development and urban planning to keep pace with the scale of growth. The coming years will likely witness a growing wave of urban violence and criminality, as policymakers face high-leverage decisions on urban zoning, policing strategies and philosophy, new surveillance technologies, increased urbanization due to climate change, and other issues. 

This crisis requires an urgent and coordinated response from State, national, and international policymakers, who need a holistic vision for building a safe, healthy, and just future for Nigeria’s urban residents. As urban centers evolve, industrialization and its effects take a toll on the people. There has been very little investment in research into the unique challenges urban cities pose to National Security if they are left unattended. National policies that seek to maintain law and order in urban cities have been established but have remained only in policy but not in practice. The majority of the citizenry believe that the government, both at the national and sub-national level, does not prioritize adapting to each peculiar State's specific needs and challenges. There is a lack of a shared agenda among practitioners and researchers in Nigeria to guide how they influence government responses to curbing urban violence and de-escalating rising tensions. Search will foster sustainable partnerships between African scholars and peace practitioners to address this issue to influence responses to urban violence. 

This initiative will bring together expertise from different sectors - from justice reform to urban planning to peace building. This convening of national stakeholders will lay the groundwork for ongoing multidisciplinary collaboration between scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. 

Output Expectations:

N/B: Starting Time every day at 8:00 am The closing session on November 9th ends at 3:30 pm 

Qualifications and Experience 

Quotations shall be evaluated based on technical expertise and the lowest price. The evaluation shall be conducted as follows: 

25th OCtober, 2021.

Submission of Documents

Interested applicants should please apply by sending completed applications to the Human Resource via email on: nigeriahr@sfcg.org
Or
Click Here to apply online

N/B: The exact venue for the event is yet to be determined, however, the event will take place in Abuja. FCT. 

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