“Boko Haram does not respect state boundaries, so it’s important that we also share and analyse across borders, and that we try and join up the response where possible.”

The humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency and governments’ reaction to the threat and the displacement in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) is of epic proportions. 9.2m people are in need of humanitarian assistance; 2.3m have been displaced with more than half being children; 10,849 people have been killed by BH since 2014; malnutrition and food insecurity have surpassed emergency thresholds; and extremely high levels of gender based violence and protection concerns for children and adults persist across four countries making this a protection crisis.

The IRC is operational in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon and is taking a joined up approach to Violence Prevention and Response. This briefing paper outlines our main concerns and recommendations for the Humanitarian Donor Conference #OlsoHumConf taking place on February 23rd and 24th in Oslo. Our key messages are:

  • Addressing violence against women, children and displaced populations must be at the core of the response in the LCB region thereby upholding the Abuja Action Statement and recognising this as a protection crisis
  • Essential and specialised violence prevention and response services need to be in place and sufficiently resourced while adhering to minimum standards
  • Regional learning and approaches should inform country-specific and cross-border programming as well as promote safe durable solutions