Bridget Usifo Osakwe

Bridget Osakwe is the National Network Coordinator and Secretary to the Board of West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) Nigeria. She is a proponent of non-violence who has been involved in different aspects on non-violence and mediation processes in Africa and sits on the board of several civil society organizations. Prior to joining WANEP, she worked with Project Alert on Violence Against Women for several years where she was in charge of information sharing and providing support services to victims of violence while also advocating for the protection of their rights. She was also the Program Manager for WIPNET, a thematic focus of WANEP that provides a platform for women’s groups and associations to advocate for the vulnerable groups in conflict and promote social justice.

Bridget got involved in social development work in 1999 and has since acquired trainings and experience in peace and conflict transformation processes.Specific areas of interest include gender human and women’s rights, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, gender and disaster, women and arms control, women political empowerment, International and National Human Rights Instruments.

She worked with Project Alert on Violence Against Women for several years where she was in charge of information sharing on issues of violence against women and providing support services to female victims of violence while also advocating for the protection of their rights. Bridget is an efficient trainer/facilitator has embarked on projects from design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. She has also handled some consultancy as a service that has the potential of giving expertise and experience for better results as well as responsible leadership in project management.

Bridget has a Masters Degree in Peace and Reconciliation studies from the Coventry University, UK, has attended relevant trainings to her work both national and at international levels including Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Comparing Theory and Practice. Bridget has been involved in the WANEP mediation processes in Plateau state and more recently the Justice and Security Dialogues in Maghreb and Sahel supported by USIP. She has spoken and facilitated several national and international dialogues and conferences including the Interfaith Peace Building Consultation: The Need for a Gender Perspective by the Women Peacemakers of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) in Nicosia, Cyprus, Women’s Leadership and Agency in Conflict and Post Conflict Settings in Freetown, Sierra Leone; the United States Institute of Peace Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Working Group Community Engagement Practitioners’ Workshop in Washington DC, USA and The Role of Women in Countering Violent Extremism, Istanbul, Turkey.

Bridget is a Chief (Eka Emem – Mother of Peace of the Duke Royal House), a Melvin Jones Fellow for Dedicated Humanitarian Services of Lions Club International Foundation has some books and publications to her credit.