After more than a decade of active conflict, the crisis in northeastern Nigeria remains one of the most severe in the world. Forced displacement, exacerbated by climate shocks and disease outbreaks, has left over 10.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection across the BAY (Borno, Adamawa and Yobe) states. This protracted crisis is characterized by grave human rights violations and widespread protection concerns, including chronic threats to physical safety and security, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), arbitrary arrests and detention, abduction, and forced recruitment into armed groups.
Over 1.9 million people in the region are internally displaced, of which a staggering 80% are women and children, with one in four under the age of five. Sudden, large-scale displacements have triggered worsening living conditions in the region’s already-congested camps and informal settlements, perpetuating and heightening the already severe protection risks. The lack of economic and livelihood opportunities, marked deterioration in food security, and limited access to essential basic services all negatively impact the well-being, and further undermine the resilience, of IDP, returnee, and host communities in Nigeria.
DRC Response
Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has had an operational presence in Nigeria since 2015, and has experience working in 33 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across the BAY states. DRC provides life-saving assistance and protection to vulnerable, conflict-affected populations including IDPs, returnees, and host communities in the sectors of armed violence reduction, livelihoods, nutrition and food security, protection, shelter and non-food items (NFI) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The operational context in northeastern Nigeria remains challenging, as the ongoing conflict impedes conflict-affected communities’ access to what limited basic services are available, as well as DRC and other humanitarians’ access to persons of concern