Terre des Hommes

With support from the Fund, Terre des Hommes has reached thousands of children in north-eastern Nigeria. The Boko Haram crisis has forced more than 1.4 million children to flee their homes. Ten years after the beginning of the insurgency, repeated attacks have left entire villages barren and burned. More than 20,000 people have been killed, while more than 4,000 have been abducted.

As with any conflict, children in Nigeria are paying the highest price for something completely out of their control. More than 800 schools across the region have been closed, and many have been irreparably destroyed. Violence against women and children is increasing, especially by members of armed groups, the military, and the national government’s emergency management personnel. And of every four suicide bombers, one is a child.

To support children and families struggling with displacement, trauma and violence, Terre des Hommes used support from the Fund to reach internally displaced persons and returnees in Borno State. Throughout the project, they:

• Equipped over 5,000 children and caregivers, 54 per cent of whom were female, with stress management skills through age- and gender-appropriate psychosocial support.
• Provided awareness-raising sessions for 19,700 community members by engaging 50 community-based child protection focal points, the latter of which are community volunteers trained to be the “go-to” persons for child protection within communities. Child protection focal points monitor, refer and report abuse cases, while also conducting awareness-raising activities and mediating conflicts within their communities.
• Engaged over 800 children in life-skills training, all of whom fled from active conflict situations. 
• Reached 325 children with individualised case management services, improving children’s self-reliance and confidence and helping them deal with trauma.