ReliefWeb

2. Background & Rationale

Since May 2013, the Boko Haram insurgency in northern Nigeria has resulted in destroyed infrastructure, provoked severe livelihoods erosion and triggered the displacement of over 1.3 million people in Borno state, out of which 265,782 are in Maiduguri. The humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and the non-displaced population in Borno state is concerning. Even within Maiduguri internally displaced populations are not receiving regular food aid, and IDP camps and camp-like settlements are disorganized, flood-prone and unsanitary, with extreme humanitarian indicators across all sectors.

In addition there is a clear lack of information and information coordination in North East Nigeria to support the planning and delivery of humanitarian assistance. Despite the current efforts conducted by IOM on DTM, OCHA as well as sectors, operational actors in Borno often lack specific evidence based and localized information to support their planning and implementation of life-saving aid.

Given the scale of displacement into urban areas of Maiduguri from conflict affected ones, and the clear understanding that the vast majority of these populations do not reside in formal IDP camps, it is imperative that living conditions in informal camps are assessed. IOM DTM has located, mapped and counted residents of 93 informal camps in Maiduguri alone. But it is clear there are many more that have not yet be formally identified or assessed, due to the lack of clear definitions of camp / settlements in Nigeria. It is further imperative that we understand the level of access these populations have to critical services, as well as the strain they may be placing on them

For this reason, REACH will build a general understanding of access to services and other infrastructure elements at IDP informal camp settlements in the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Maiduguri and Jere. This will be achieved by mapping infrastructure services and by filling in information gaps for the list of informal camps provided by IOM DTM Round XX. Additionally, through this activity REACH will support IOM DTM and other humanitarian actors by improving definitions currently used to label camps and potentially identifying new camps..