By Sarah Cockey, Natalie Fiertz, Nate Haken, Patricia Taft Nasri, Wendy Wilson, Daniel Woodburn

Although overall levels in violence in the Niger Delta have improved over the last five years, there are increased economic pressures which have the potential to reverse those gains unless government, civil society, and development actors work to develop a security framework that emphasizes prevention as a complement to deterrence. Otherwise, the cycle of violence could escalate. One of the great strengths of the peace and security infrastructure in the Niger Delta’s is the high level of engagement by civil society groups throughout the region, for collaboration around violence prevention. Any strategy that will be successful in both preventing and deterring violence must be flexible enough to respond to rapidly changing dynamics and emerging vulnerabilities. It must also be participatory, to include the perspectives and insight of all key stakeholder groups. This briefing highlights the opportunity to build on successful initiatives undertaken by civil society organizations and collaborative partnerships between civil society, government, and security actors, which should be distilled and could inform the design of any strategic security framework for the region.