A/HRC/28/64/Add.2 and economic opportunities was regarded as a main driver that resulted in competition for resources and growing suspicions and hostility among groups. Minority women and girls were regarded as particularly affected by low socioeconomic status and insecurity. 30. Interviewees in Jos and Kaduna explained that competition for land between nomadic pastoralists and local farmers was a major conflict-generating issue in both Plateau and Kaduna States; the arrival of herders from Northern Nigeria, most of them Fulani Muslims in search of new grazing routes, is perceived by farmers, mostly Christians, as a threat to their economy and lifestyle. Pastoralists resent their limited access to public resources and feel discriminated against. The effects of climate change are also a cause of land competition in that, owing to the increasing desertification and droughts affecting the north, the grazing lands where pastoralists can take their herds have been reduced, forcing them to move south. In parallel, local farmers in the Middle Belt have been taking more land for cultivation, in some cases including long-agreed grazing routes for herders, resulting in a reduction of places for herders to water and graze their stock. 31. Most civil society and government representatives asserted that the current religious and ethnic dimensions of the conflicts were not a primary cause by themselves, but a result of the use of these factors by the different groups in order to mobilize and reach out to a larger number of people to their cause. This has added an extra layer of complexity to the situation while extending the conflict, owing to the escalation of violence through retaliation. A commentator said that “if a person of an ethnic or religious group is killed, that person goes and kills people of the other group”. 32. Most people consulted repeatedly highlighted the widespread lack of accountability and impunity for instigators and perpetrators of violence. It was noted that law enforcement is of paramount importance to guarantee the principle of rule of law and to prevent violence from escalating further; in fact, participants in consultations affirmed that impunity was reinforcing the cycle of violence and retaliatory actions, leading people to take the law into their own hands. 33. State-sponsored security initiatives have been launched in both Plateau and Kaduna States to tackle the recurring episodes of violence affecting the region. A special joint security initiative, “Operation Rainbow”, began in Plateau State in 2010, inspired by a similar security initiative implemented by Kaduna State known as “Operation Yaki”. Operation Rainbow is entrusted with “ensuring peace and security of lives and properties on the Plateau through the process of proper articulation and deployment of all embracing measures that would adequately address and contain the democratic values and rule of law issues that have potentials of leading to crisis in the state”. 34. Operation Rainbow was framed as a multi-faceted intervention that focuses on four different dimensions: (a) political, through fostering dialogue with a range of stakeholders to promote good governance; (b) economic, by implementing youth and women empowerment programmes as well as training courses to promote employment; (c) social, by encouraging dialogue among a wide range of stakeholders, such as civil society organizations, traditional rulers, religious leaders and family members; and (d) security, through the deployment of security forces. Operation Rainbow includes a system of “neighbourhood watch”, where specially trained members of communities gather and report relevant information to prevent violent conflicts. It was acknowledged that shortages in relation to police resources, such as lack of fuel for police vehicles, must be addressed. 35. Civil society actors stated that security forces must be given sufficient and adequate capacity, training and resources to perform their duties. Training in human rights must be an integral part of security forces’ instruction. Nevertheless, they noted that sustainable solutions to communal violence require not only a heightened security response, but also a comprehensive approach that addresses the underlying causes of violence, particularly good 10