The CAI’s approach to non-violence training is applicable, tailorable, and scalable to any environment or culture from the local level to reduce school or gang violence to the international level to re-integrate violent groups into society.
Our approach to non-violence and re-integration is based on best practices and proven successful approaches including those used by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in their global Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration programs (DDR).
The approach is anchored in accountability and responsibility for all parties. Governments, politicians, and implementing organizations are held responsible to fulfill commitments and honestly implement a viable holistic reintegration program. Ex-militants are held responsible for adhering to amnesty terms and their personal reintegration plans. This makes the program’s success a responsibility shared by all. Rejecting this responsibility through destructive, criminal, or unethical behavior, by any party, will bring consequences under the rule of law.
Anticipated outcomes. Successful application will produce several outcomes:
1. Requirements Assessment.
a. Participant groups will no longer see themselves as a special group but a part of Nigerian society and local communities.
b. Participant needs and opportunities determined in a meaningful way.
2. Targeted Counseling.
a. Tailored, individual reintegration plans constructed by each participant based on individual needs, capabilities, and actual opportunities available to them.
3. Education and Training.
a. Train and educate participants for realistic opportunities to achieve and sustain livelihoods for themselves and their dependents.
4. Livelihood Development.
a. Participants emerge able to support themselves and their dependents using legal livelihood and income generating methods.
b. Reduce criminal activities including use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
c. Coordinate public-private efforts across the seven capital forms to reintegrate participants and provide capabilities to receiving communities.
d. Dependents and caregivers of special needs participants or those unsuitable for reintegration receive training and education needed for sustainable livelihoods.
5. Community Engagement.
a. Involves and benefits local communities.
b. Reduce resentment for participants in the community while increasing security.
c. Reintegrate graduates as valued members of society while not marginalizing or neglecting the law-abiding population.
d. Inclusive programs as part of a national strategy that benefits the whole of society.
6. Implementation and Transition.
a. Locally based, led, and owned by local communities.
b. Transition to community capabilities generating sustainable livelihoods for all.
A sustainable approach. This approach is designed to invest in entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability that will scale from a local to national level. Execution of the program will gradually transition to locales as the stages progress. Sustaining our approach is supported by hiring and training local citizens to execute the program.
Sustainability is further promoted by reintegrating participants without impacting the existing sustainable livelihoods of the general population. This is accomplished during the program by building and leveraging local community capacity. It culminates when reintegration centers, program capabilities, and public-private partnerships transition to a locally owned and operated vocational-technical campus open to all.