The ongoing insurgency in northeast Nigeria is the single biggest threat to the lives and livelihoods of people living in the region. Thousands of residents, most of them women and children, have been displaced and face a wide range of threats to their physical and emotional safety, as well as restrictions on their freedom of movement. Many have been traumatized by violence, including sexual and gender-based violence.

Through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Internally Displaced People Protection (UIPP) project, FHI 360 is working to support people affected by this situation. The overarching goal of the project, to identify and provide psychosocial support to victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, aligns with the 2015 UNHCR Nigeria Internally Displaced People Operational Strategy and the 2015 Strategic Response Plan.

Because youth are often severely affected by displacement and violence, this project will focus on training youth in camps and host communities as community volunteers. These volunteers will be trained through community-based organizations using a unique program model to help identify people in need.