Nigeria

Nigeria has suffered greatly since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009. The conflict has resulted in widespread population displacement. As of August 2019, nearly 2 million people were internally displaced. One in four of the internally displaced people are children under five years old, and 80 percent are women and children.

Terre des Hommes responds to the needs in Northeast Nigeria where children and their families living in internally displaced persons camps and around are stricken by poverty making them highly vulnerable. 

Since 2019, through the Nigeria Joint Response programme, Terre des Hommes provides protection services for children and their families, by creating a safe environment that can be used as emotional support but also for educational activities. 

Within Child Safe Spaces, we capacitate children in literacy and by providing psychosocial support to children and adolescents, focusing on themes such as identity & values; family & relationships; dealing with emotions etc. Other activities include:

• Emotional Support Groups to caregivers to share experiences and strengthen their resilience.
• Promote youth participation, and strengthen adolescent’s life skills and resilience by registering them in life-skills projects, such as tailoring, soap making, hair barbering etc.

We also work closely with experienced officers to identify and protect vulnerable and at-risk children. Cases supported include orphans, child victims of neglect, abduction, early forced marriage etc.

In health we focus on women and girls, and we provide awareness sessions on reproductive health and emotional support. We work with mobile clinics and in health centers to provide Maternal, Newborn and Child Health services, including:

• antenatal & postnatal care
• sensitization on sexually transmissible infections 
• Mama Groups: consisting of emotional support groups for pregnant and lactating women, and to raise awareness on pregnancy, reproductive health and infant care.

Terre des Hommes has been working inside IDP camps and has rehabilitated and upgraded boreholes by installing solar panels. These boreholes provide water to more than 25,000 people.

Our work also consists of improving the sanitation and hygiene to the most vulnerable families inside IDP camps and of host communities. Our work includes rehabilitating latrines and distribution of hygiene kits.