Inspiring Inclusion

The Real Stories of Peace: Inspiring Inclusion.

Meet Celine from Nigeria. After experiencing the effects of conflict first hand, Celine dedicated her life to building peace for all groups within societies. Celine works to inspire a more inclusive world for everyone.

‘The key message…is the projection of the voices of the neglected group who invariably bear the burden of conflicts.’ 

Conflict is not new to Nigeria, British colonial rule has had a lasting impact on the country. Celine was born during a conflict and because of this her and her family were forced to relocate.

The effects of war followed Celine and her family to remote town they moved to. A severe lack of food led to Celine becoming malnourished, one day became extremely sick.

‘I became so sick as an infant; I lost consciousness and was rushed to hospital.’

A couple of years after this, Celine became disabled. As she grew, Celine regularly asked her mother to explain how this conflict led to her illness and consequently becoming disabled.

After finishing school, Celine decided that she did not want others to experience the same things as her and committed her life to building peace.

Celine has seen how consistently women, children and people with disabilities are left out of peace negotiations. How often external actors come into communities and try to dictate where peace starts.

‘It is local people who know the environment, it is local people who know how the war affected them…So at the peacebuilding table, it is important that local people should be there.’

Celine works to acknowledge and enhance gender justice by calling on stakeholders to act together for peace. She has become a champion for inclusion of persons with disabilities in local efforts to build peace. She has initiated many projects across Nigeria, all working to locally build inclusive and sustainable peace.

‘I’ve learnt that in peacebuilding, no group of people […] should be left behind. Everyone has an experience to share.’ 

Celine has supported marginalised groups across Nigeria and continues to advocate for them in peacebuilding spaces.

‘If there is no inclusivity, that is not peacebuilding.’

For Celine, peace starts with total acceptance and inclusion.