CHILD PROTECTION AREA OF
RESPONSIBILITY NORTH-EAST NIGERIA
FIRST QUARTER BRIEF 2023
2
KEY PROTECTION RISKS DURING THE QUARTER
@ UNICEF Nigeria
1
•
High incidents of family separation as a result of increased non state armed group attacks on
communities across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe as well as across the borders in Cameroon has led
to displacements of communities, influx of refugees in Adamawa increased numbers of separated
and unaccompanied children exposed to trafficking, recruitment by non-sate armed groups, sexual
exploitation and child marriage.
•
Prolonged dentation of children formerly associated with none state armed groups has
resulted in additional distress on children in the transit centers leading to mental health disorders,
exposure to sexual violence and more children exiting none state armed groups have selfintegrated in the communities leading to risks of harm to them by unprepared communities to
receive them back, rejection and re recruitment
•
Prevalence harmful practices and violence.:Children are subjected to harmful practices such
as street begging, child marriage, child labor and denial of education which has exposed many
children to sexual abuse, violence/neglect, trafficking and recruitment by none state armed groups
since many of them are out of school which would have been a protective environment.
•
Child Labor, the cashless policy by the government and the withdrawal of the old currency notes
amidst a poverty-stricken region exposed many children to child labor to meet the household
basic needs because they do not own bank accounts, this exposed children and communities to
resort to negative copping mechanism such as the worst forms of child labor, sexual exploitation,
child trafficking and child marriage.
•
Dangers and injuries, with the Borno state camp closure approach, most communities have
returned and are stilling returning to communities that are still infested with explosive
ordinances and this poses a risk to injuries, disability and death of children. We have seen an
increase in the number of causalities and fatalities a result of unexploded ordinances of war.
Child Protection Area of Responsibility North-East Nigeria
@CP AoR Nigeria
2
•
•
•
3
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
The launching of child protection law
implementation committees, state level
implementation committees have been put
in place consisting of various stakeholders,
political, academic, legal, religious, cultural
and social welfare staff to oversee the
implementation of the child protection law,
the costed workplans are being developed
and will be resourced and supported by
government and partners.
CPMIS 2.0 rollout, with support of
partners and the line ministries the new
version of the child protection information
system and harmonized tools have
been rolled out in Borno, and Yobe with
more than 30 organizations both local,
international and UN agencies trained
on the system, this has enhanced the
data protection, analysis for planning and
advocacy.
Inauguration of the friends of CAAG
Nigeria (Children formerly associated with
none state armed groups) was launched
on the 11th of April in Abuja by the
humanitarian coordinator, the government
and UNICEF, this brings together Donors
and Embassies in Nigeria pledging to
resource and support the reintegration
efforts of children in the northeast.
•
Donors’ engagement meeting in Abuja,
the protection sector with all the AoRs
including child protection participated in a
high-level donor engagement meeting on
the northeast, this provided the CP AoR
with the opportunity to articulate the CP
needs priorities and funding requirements
as per the HRP for 2023.
•
Annual review and cluster coordination
performance monitoring (CCPM)
workshop was held to take stock of last
year’s performance and develop the 2023
action plan with partners and government
to address the areas identified for
improvement, 40 partners participated in
the two days’ workshop in Abuja.
Child Protection Area of Responsibility North-East Nigeria
•
•
•
4
System strengthening, improvement in the
quality of services and sustainability of the
response are key for the CP AoR, as such
focus has been on training of social welfare
workforce and child protection committees,
across the BAY states 4,366 (56%) female
have been trained on child protection
case management, MHPSS, CPMIS and
coordination in humanitarian action.
CAAG agenda, with the escalation of none
state armed groups attacks on communities
across the BAY states and cross boarder
an influx of refugees from Cameroon have
increased in Adamawa and the number of
children formerly associated with non-state
armed groups has equally increased in the
transit centers, to respond the ministry and
partners have reintegrated 379 children
62% girls back to their communities and
provided multi-sectorial support such as case
management, education, livelihood support
and health services through referrals.
Case management: 689 children 49% girls
have benefited from muti sectorial case
management support this quarter to address
individual vulnerabilities such as child abuse,
neglect, exploitation and violence, the support
provided has been family reunification,
alternative care, education, MHPSS, life skills
and referrals for health services.
•
MHPSS: 58,951 children, 50% girls have been
reached through the child friendly spaces
with community based psychosocial support
services through structured recreational
activities, 507 children have exclusively
benefited from specialized MHPSS support,
to enable them regain normalcy, reduce
occurrence of post -traumatic stress disorder
and have been supported with skills to adopt
positive coping mechanism.
•
Birth Registration: 21,327 children under
5 years were register and issued with birth
certificates, this is a fundamental right and
provides the child with a right to identify and
subsequently opens gates to benefits from
government services and is very instrumental
in justice for children especially on age
determination.
•
Awareness: 19,462 people have been
reached with social behaviour change
messages and awareness on key child
protection issues, roles/ obligation of each
stakeholder and where to access the various
child protection services. This is a key
preventive measure to mitigate the violence,
exploitation, neglect and abuse that children
face in the communities. Through these
meetings communities and stakeholders have
come up with action plans to protect children.
Child Protection Area of Responsibility North-East Nigeria
3
CHALLENGES, GAPS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
•
Limited funding for the CP AoR, this has affected the implementation of critical child
protection related interventions, most partners have pulled out of the response, and this is a
clear indication of the reach that stands at 8% and funding received in the quarter is as well 8% .
•
Prevalence of harmful practices and social norms have continued to fuel cases of child
marriage, child labour, violence and neglect.
•
Inadequate number of social welfare workforce at LGA levels has created gaps in effective
case management support, this is also complicated by the low technical capacities of some
partners in the area of child protection compromising the quality-of-service provision.
@CHAD nigeria
SUMMARY OF FIRST QUARTER ACHIEVEMENT JANUARY - MARCH 2023
5
Child Protection Area of Responsibility North-East Nigeria
ANALYSIS OF CP AoR FUNDING JANUARY – MARCH 2023
COVER PHOTO:
@CP AoR Nigeria
6