Skip to main content

Situation Overview: Humanitarian Needs and Displacement Dynamics in Hard-to-Reach Areas of Borno State (August 2018 - April 2019)

Countries
Nigeria
+ 2 more
Sources
REACH
Publication date
Origin
View original

INTRODUCTION

Throughout Northeast Nigeria, violent conflict and pre-conflict poverty have provoked mass internal displacements and spurred the provision of humanitarian service delivery since 2009. In 2014, Organized Armed Groups (OAGs) took control of significant swaths of territory, increasing insecurity and rendering the vast bulk of Borno state as hard to reach for those delivering humanitarian aid. Persons fleeing these hard-to-reach areas in search of assistance frequently take refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, most often located in the garrisoned capitals of Local Government Areas (LGAs). These LGA capitals, under the control of Nigerian Government Forces, serve as hubs for humanitarian service provision, particularly in Borno state. To inform humanitarian service providers and aid actors on the demographics of persons still in hard-to-reach areas of Northeast Nigeria, as well as to identify their needs, access to services and intentions to move, REACH initiated an ongoing assessment of hard-to-reach areas in Northeast Nigeria.

The H2R assessment aims to:

• Characterize the cross-sectoral needs and vulnerabilities of remaining populations

• Provide up-to-date information on service provision and access

• Represent geographic displacement patterns To achieve this, the H2R assessment conducted key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with IDPs who left a hard-to-reach area during the past one to three months. Data has been collected on a continual basis since November 2018, using accessible LGA capitals as data collection sites. This situation overview presents the findings from the baseline assessment and, unless otherwise stated, all findings are presented as a percentage of assessed settlements in the respective LGA that reported a given finding at least once in the data collection period. If settlements reported a finding more than once this did not contribute to a higher percentage. From 1 November 2018 to 30 April 2019, REACH interviewed 9,315 key informants (KIs) who had recent knowledge of conditions in 2,040 unique settlements.

KEY FINDINGS

• 82% of assessed settlements reported that some population remains in the hard to reach area

• Populations consist largely of captive populations and vulnerable sub-groups unable to journey to LGA capitals; Most have limited to no information on the availability of humanitarian aid services in LGA capitals.

• Deteriorating food security and violent conflict are key drivers of displacement

• Food insecurity and protection needs are most severe in Gwoza LGA, followed closely by Dikwa LGA

• Hard-to-reach data indicates that ongoing wild polio transmission in Borno state remains possible, and that access restrictions in Northeast Nigeria persist as a potential barrier to global polio eradication.

• KIs from hard-to-reach areas reported widespread violence. While some focus group respondents expressed a desire for security intervention, others feared being targeted in airstrikes or caught in crossfire.

• Focus groups reported near-universal rustling of livestock, harvest confiscation, and destruction of nonreligious schools which has significantly disrupted livelihoods and continues to negatively impact daily life.