North-East Nigeria: Untying Vulnerabilities and Humanitarian Concerns

More than half of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria's north-east fled their homes in 2014 and 2015

In North-East Nigeria, the violence of the Boko Haram Insurgency and the resulting military operations have affected nearly 15 million people since 2009. The conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis that has strained food security and social services across six States. A majority of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) come from Borno State and others come from Adamawa and Yobe States. Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba States have been substantially impacted resulting in hosts of forcibly displaced persons.

Clashes between the Nigerian military and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) escalated into conflict in May 2013, with authorities declaring a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. Since then, the region has experienced massive destruction of infrastructure, a collapse of livelihoods, widespread displacement and brutal attacks on the civilian population.

More than half of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria's north-east fled their homes in 2014 and 2015, after NSAGs seized control of a territory of more than 30,000 square kilometers, committing grave human rights abuses against the local populations they encountered.

Since the start of the conflict, more than 20,000 people have been killed, more than 4,000 people abducted and, in November 2017, 1.6 million people remained displaced. In early 2016, the Government of Nigeria (GoN) in collaboration with the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union, conducted a Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) to gauge crisis recovery needs in the North-East. The assessment highlighted four strategic areas of intervention - Humanitarian Aid, Peace Building, Stability & Social Cohesion; Infrastructure & Social Services; and Economic Recovery.

The March 2017 signing and subsequent operationalization of the Tripartite Agreement between the Government of Nigeria, Government of Cameroon and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has facilitated advocacy, stalling instances of forced returns of Nigerian refugees.

Presently, the crisis in North-East Nigeria has created vulnerabilities and humanitarian concerns. An estimated 7.7 million men, women, boys, and girls are in acute need of protection and assistance. While the humanitarian community has provided life-saving assistance to over 5.6 million affected people in 2017.

Demographic dynamics pose a challenge, considering that a large segment of the population is young (45 percent are less than 15 years of age, and 30 percent is between 15 and 34 years old). There is a high dependency burden due to youth unemployment and lack of opportunity.

Globally, Nigeria ranks 152 out of 187 in the Human Development Index (HDI), which is well below the average for sub-Saharan Africa. Nationally, 46 percent of the population is below the poverty line, while in the north-east, the figure is 77 percent. Significant gender disparities continue to exist between regions.

The maternal mortality rate in North-East Nigeria is the highest in the country and almost 10 times higher than the rate in the country's south-western zone (1,538/100,000 compared to 165/100,000 live births). The child mortality rate in the north-east (160/1,000 live births) is among the worst in the world and the highest in the country.

Access to education has also been historically low with more than one-third of children in the north-east being out of school. Of those who attend school, 72 percent are unable to read upon completion of sixth grade.