PROMOTING INTERNATIONALISM? A GENDERED EXAMINATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS REINTEGRATION PROCESSES FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS) IN NORTH-EAST NIGERIA by Ebunoluwa Elizabeth Adefowokan B.A., Ekiti State University-Nigeria, 2015 Dip., Ekiti State University-Nigeria, 2009 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2019 © Ebunoluwa Adefowokan, 2019 Abstract Widespread displacement of persons domiciled in northeastern Nigeria is one of the most profound aftermaths of the Boko Haram insurgency. This study investigates the challenges of internally displaced persons (IDPs), particularly women and girls, in northeastern Nigeria. The focus is primarily on the United Nations’ (UN) interventions and reintegration policies as the “government of the world,” the implementation of these policies in the Nigerian context, and their effectiveness for women and girls. The study asks the following questions: What are the general and gender-specific challenges of IDPs in northeastern Nigeria? How have the UN intervention and reintegration processes responded to those challenges? How gender-sensitive are the UN’s intervention and reintegration processes for Nigeria’s female IDPs in that part of the country? The researcher applied internationalism and a feminist perspective on human security as the conceptual framework for this study. Interpretative phenomenological research methodology was used to investigate this phenomenon through in-depth individual interviews, focus groups, and observation of participants and camps. Twenty-four individual interviews were conducted with 12 IDPs and I2 officials. Four focus-group discussions were also facilitated with 28 participants. Thematic analysis of data was achieved using interpretative phenomenological analysis in a four-cycle coding process, resulting in 3 themes [the general and gender-specific challenges of participants; internationalism and UN interventions for Nigerian IDPs; and UN interventions; gender blind]. This study, which included the shared experiences of participants resulted in informed recommendations at the conclusion of the thesis. Major recommendations suggest improvements in the subsistence interventions and reintegration processes of this region with special attention to the gender needs of the displaced women and girls. ii Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents iii List of Figures vi Glossary of Acronyms vii Dedication viii Acknowledgement ix Chapter One Introduction 1 Background of the Study 1 Research Problem 5 Research Questions 8 Objectives, Purpose, and Significance of the Study 9 Research Location and Design 9 Summary and Outline 10 Chapter Two Literature Review 12 Introduction 12 Evolution of IDP Policy 13 IDPs: Whose Responsibility? 20 UN-IDP Reintegration Framework: Gender Sensitive? 30 Nigeria’s IDP Challenges 36 Summary 40 Chapter Three Research Methodology 41 Background on the Region of Study and Research Location 41 Conceptual Framework 48 Internationalism 48 Feminist perspective on human security 49 Research Methodology 50 Phenomenological study design Methods 51 53 Qualitative interviewing and observation 53 Focus-group discussion 54 iii Recruitment design and process 55 Sample 57 Data collection process 59 Ethical Consideration and Process 61 Field Research Experiences 63 Limitations of fieldwork and data collection 64 Data Analysis 66 Summary 69 Chapter Four Findings and Results 70 Introduction 70 General and Gendered Challenges of Participants 70 Subsistence Challenges 71 General challenges 71 Sex-specific subsistence challenges 81 Gendered subsistence challenges 86 Reintegration Challenges Internationalism and UN Interventions for Nigerian IDPs Subsistence Interventions General interventions 91 94 94 94 If I Could Speak to the United Nations: IDPs’ Gendered Reintegration Plights 101 Summary 109 Chapter Five Conclusions and Recommendations 111 Conclusions 111 Recommendations and Significance of the Study 111 Improving the general and gendered approach to interventions 112 Think future, think reintegration 113 Improving educational opportunities for IDPs 114 Rethinking allocation and fostering accountability 116 Limitation of the Thesis/Study iv 117 Suggestions for Future Research 118 A gendered examination on the impact of displacement on children 118 The value-chain of resource transfer from donors to beneficiaries 118 Many IDPs in Maiduguri; the effect of IDP migration on the development of Maiduguri References 119 120 Appendix A NEMA Approval Letter 133 Appendix B Map of Teachers’ Village Camp 134 Appendix C UNBC Research Ethics Board Approval 135 Appendix D Research Assistant Confidentiality Agreement 136 Appendix E Emergency Contact’s Letter 137 Appendix F Information Letter/ Consent Form 138 Appendix G Interview Questions 142 Appendix H Second-Cycle Code List 144 v List of Figures Figure 1 Refugees and IDPs displaced by conflict and violence from 1990-2016 3 Figure 2 Map of Nigeria with Boko Haram hotbeds 42 Figure 3 Map showing the numbers of IDPs and camps in Northern Nigeria as at 2016 44 Figure 4 Estimated number of IDPs in Borno state per LGA as at 2016 45 Figure 5 Total population of IDPs in the eleven functional camp in Maiduguri as at 2016 46 Figure 6 A back-view photo of IDPs taking food out of the camp 77 Figure 7 A photo of stagnant water beside the camp clinic 85 Figure 8 A diagram showing the general and gender-specific challenges of participants 93 Figure 9 A Venn diagram showing IDPs’ gendered reintegration plights 109 vi Glossary of Acronyms AU African Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization HLP House Land Policy HRW Human Rights Watch ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDP Internally Displaced Person IOM International Organization for Migration LGA Local Government Area NEMA National Emergency Management Agency NGO Non-Governmental Organization BSEMA Borno State Emergency Management Agency UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Human Development UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Fund UNOCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs UNSG United Nations Secretary General vii Dedication This project is dedicated to IDPs in northeastern Nigeria, particularly the ones whose voices are amplified in this thesis. viii Acknowledgment I owe the success of this thesis to: § God who showed himself as my father, guide, and strength as I went through this uncharted path in my life. § My mom, Mrs. Taiwo Agoro, whose love, supports, and sacrifices are incomparable. § Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Holler, whose ceaseless guidance, supports, and encouragements were next to none; and Prof. Dr. Lantana Usman and Prof. Dr. Nathan Andrews for their intelligent comments, suggestions, and willingness to serve as committee members for this work. § My family and friends for their confidence in me. § The assistance of Chris Delvan Gwamna’s Ministries and Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency. Thank you all ix Chapter One: Introduction Background of the Study The late 1980s saw the rise of the global crisis of internal displacement as a challenging issue on the international agenda. Former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG) Kofi Annan attested that “[i]nternal displacement has emerged as one of the great human tragedies of our time” (Cohen & Deng, 1998a, p. xix). Incessant conflict-induced violence, violations of human rights, and many natural disasters have informed daily inflation in the numbers of refugees and IDPs and clearer definitions of each category: A refugee is a person who, as a result of well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his [or her] nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear is unwilling, to avail himself [or herself] of the protection of that country. (1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees, Article I.A. (2)) Internally Displaced Persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of, or in order to avoid the effects of, armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border. (UNOCHA 2004, p. 1) Unlike refugees, however, the internally displaced are compelled to live a beggarly life of destitution, deprivation, lack, and humiliation as they are dispossessed under their government and 1 controlling authorities (Cohen & Deng, 1998a). The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) 2016 review documented an estimated 65.6 million displaced persons worldwide (Global Trends, 2016) as against 19.5 million recorded in the 2004 Statistical Yearbook (UNHCR, 2004). In some cases, an entire community could be in extinction because it has been left uninhabitable by conflicts. The United Nations (UN), given its commitment to peacekeeping across the globe, has adopted various forms of responses to these crises. The responses have been broadly categorized into policymaking and/or field assistance through relief for the victims in these situations (Mooney, 2005). Although some scholars argue that issues of internal displacement are states’ responsibilities, for the UN system, issues of internal displacement are more approached as a humanitarian challenge rather than one of human rights for which states should take primary responsibility (Abebe, 2009). Also, from what is argued to be an internal crisis, surrounding countries do bear the risk of sudden disruptions through the influx of refugees which could lead to political and economic crises. The former secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, rightly noted that “[t]he severity of the problem, both in intensity and scope, is obvious from the numbers of the displaced. . .and the fact that virtually no region of the world is spared from this epidemic.” (Abebe, 2009, p. 288). The graph below shows the number of IDPs and refugees displaced by conflicts and violence from 1990 to 2016, according to the reports of the UNHCR (2016) cited by IDMC (2017). 2 Figure 1. Refugees and IDPs displaced by conflict and violence from 1990-2016. 45000000 40000000 35000000 30000000 25000000 20000000 15000000 10000000 5000000 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 0 IDPs Refugees Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), Global report on internal displacement The above statistics indicate an oscillation within the number of the victims of “forced displacements” for over two decades. Noticeable is the upward trend in the numbers of IDPs as against refugees; that is, the number of IDPs consistently outgrew that of refugees each of these years. The growing number of IDPs since 1990 unfortunately supports the argument that internal displacement crises require international concern and supports. Despite the growth in the international recognition of internal displacement, this phenomenon continues to leave women and girls with challenging consequences that remain unattended to through the many universal approaches to reintegration by different relief actors including the UN. Over the years, a woman’s access to assistance, protection and support has often been determined by her nationality, ethnicity, age, marital status and so on, but never need. Women do not receive humanitarian aid based on their need (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). For women in conflict 3 or displaced, humanitarian relief is strongly tied to the aid actors’ interests in the conflict duration and the country’s trauma (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). The weight of violence suffered by women before, during, and after conflict is overwhelmingly alarming. In 2001, UNHCR’s report recorded that out of the 19.8 million displaced persons world-wide, 80 percent were women and minors (UN, 2002). UNHCR also attested to the likelihood of women being victims of discriminations in conflict situations. This recognition has informed the development of various UN policies for the protection of women and girls in the face of crisis situations (UNHCR, 2008). Nigeria has also been plagued with the dilemma of internal displacements, following the upsurge of Boko Haram, an insurgent group that sprang up from northeastern Nigeria in the 1990s (Aguwa, 2017). The Boko Haram insurgency has since 2009 led to the death of thousands of people and resulted in the displacement of over 2.2 million people (Loewenberg, 2017; IDMC, 2017). This upsurge primarily impacted Nigeria’s north (Aguwa, 2017) and made indelible imprints on the lives of women and girls through abductions and enslavements (ICG, 2016). The National Population Commission of Nigeria also declared that 80 percent of the 2.2 million people displaced as at 2015 were women and minors (Ogbebi, 2015). For the maintenance of peace in this region and ultimately the country, it becomes necessary to reintegrate these victims. Reintegration of these many IDPs is made more complicated by gendered victimization at the hands of Boko Haram—and by the gendered realities of life in IDP camps, which have become a home for many affected persons. This study examined the UNIDP reintegration programmes and activities in northeastern Nigeria using gender-based analysis and qualitative research orientation with participants at the Teachers’ Village Camp located in Maiduguri, Borno state. 4 Research Problem With the continuous increase of the issue of internal displacement, the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) faced the need for a distinctive definition to identify the persons of concern, their needs, and their population. Also present was the difficulty of the legal framework and policies to assist them at the outset of the agency’s mandate (Abebe, 2011; Mooney, 2005). The nature of the geographical location–within their national territory– of displaced persons has aggravated scholarly debates as to who should be responsible for the internally displaced. The opponents of internal displacement as a crisis that requires international concern and supports continually claim that there is a fundamental difference between the circumstances of those within their country (internally displaced) and those who have crossed their national borders (refugees) (Hathaway, 2007). On the other hand, others argue that acknowledging the physical location of these persons of concern should not nullify the fact that they experience similar situations as those fleeing their homes because of conflicts or life-threatening issues like refugees (Cohen (2007). Furthermore, DeWind (2007) also agrees that the difficulty in distinguishing and defining IDPs within the confines of international law does not undermine the reality that both groups need assistance. According to the 1992 Analytical Report of the Secretary-General, the question of the need for new human rights standard for IDPs brought to the fore the realization of the lack of clarity as to what the protection of IDPs really involves for states, UN bodies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (ECOSOC, 1992). Inclusive of the previous description is the assumed threat that may be posed to asylum-seekers through strengthening the protection of IDPs by the UN (Hear, 2000). Opponents of the UN-IDP framework claim that strengthening IDP protection would discourage people from seeking asylum while erecting barriers against refugee admissions 5 in nations of the world. This argument has therefore informed the reluctance of some refugee advocates to focus on IDP protection as well (Hear, 2000 & Phuong, 2004). Despite the criticism that arose from the distinction between the protection of IDPs and refugees, formulating the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacements in 1998 was a milestone in developing a framework with which the protection and assistance of IDPs can be regulated, given that same had prior been within the confines of domestic laws (Abebe, 2009). In spite of the normative IDP framework created by the UN, recognizing through empirical studies that women are the most vulnerable in any conflict-induced violence has informed some scholars' charge for gender sensitivity in IDP policy and ultimately the field operations carried out by the UN and other humanitarian actors (Fakuda-Parr, 2004). Post-conflict reintegration and resettlement often present different challenges in the lives of displaced men and women. Empirical studies have shown that women and men experience conflicts differently as IDPs, refugees, and returnees (Amirthalingam & Lakshman, 2012; Yacob-Haliso, 2008). Women do not only experience the physical burden to care for other people in post-conflict difficulties, they are often also victims of emotional difficulties themselves. In addition, women are victims of infectious diseases and inadequate diets during violent crises (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). In addition, Rehn and Sirleaf (2002) noted that women and girls especially become attacked because of their affiliations to the attackers’ political adversaries as immediate family members or relatives in conflict-induced violence. Most of the times, because this offence goes unpunished, violence against women has become a default weapon of war. Apart from this, women and girls are often targeted specifically in conflict situations because they are considered as assets of some sort (Matfess, 2016). They are often seen as soft yet more useful vessels for high-ranking insurgency targets. This was particularly true in Nigeria’s Boko Haram case, where women were 6 often captured and girded with suicide vests to attack important venues that male suicide bombers might find difficult to penetrate; as well as targeted for sexual violence (Matfess, 2016). During conflict, women and girls are subjected to rape and torture while some are compelled to become sex workers in exchange for food in order to survive (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). These violations are not committed only by the enemies; civilians and police officials also take any advantage of ongoing conflict to perpetrate all manner of sexual, emotional, physical, and financial violations against women and girls (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). Women’s post-war position and perspectives are more likely determined by their experiences in the heat of the conflicts as rape victims, victims of torture and abduction, single breadwinners, and so on (Yacob-Haliso, 2008). As important as it is that we recognize women’s vulnerability during crises, credence should also be given to including them as active recipients of humanitarian assistance and protection after crises (Barclay, Higelin, & Bungcaras, 2016). For the purpose of this research project, Nigeria has been chosen because of the negative impact of the Boko Haram insurgent crisis in the country’s northern part as a whole, which has especially plagued females. As noted earlier, the Boko Haram insurgency has since 2009 affected Nigeria’s north-eastern women and girls and left them with several devastating consequences. The September 2017 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA, 2017) operational report in Nigeria documented 5.2 million people suffering from food insecurity, 3.4 million experiencing acute malnutrition, and 1.7 million displaced in only two of the states in the affected region. Poverty, lack of access to jobs, denial of social supports, and negative attitudes from local neighborhood and camp officials have been the daily experiences of IDPs in Nigeria (Akume, 2015). 7 Women and girls have been tortured physically and psychologically by Boko Haram during their many attacks in the northeastern region of Nigeria (Muscati, 2014). Women, before being raped, were made to watch their loved ones–husbands, brothers, and sons--being brutally murdered in their presence (Muscati, 2014). Some women were raped to death, while some survivors were abducted for other purposes of service in the insurgents’ hideout. Rescued victims speak of how women are subjected to indoctrination and compelled through death threats to partake in extreme violence (Matfess, 2016; Muscati, 2014). The insurgents' exploitation of the generally perceived frail nature of women through suicide bombings has fostered intolerance and stigmatization against rescued women who now live in IDP camps (Financial Nigeria, 2017) Empirical studies with displaced persons in Nigeria’s IDP camps have also shown that women and girls are still vulnerable to nepotism, sexual assault, and exploitation in camps which are supposed to be interim homes, and a handful of them experienced such violations from men in positions of authority in these camps. This research examined the UN-IDP reintegration and intervention programmes in place in Nigeria with the study site the Teachers’ Village Camp, Maiduguri, Borno State. In addition, the study framework adopted a gender-based analysis. Research Questions This study seeks to answer these questions: What are the general and gender-specific challenges of IDPs in northeastern Nigeria? How have the UN intervention and reintegration processes responded to those challenges? How gender-sensitive are the UN’s intervention and reintegration processes for northeastern Nigeria’s female IDPs? 8 Objectives, Purpose, and Significance of the Study The objectives of this study are to investigate the improvements that northeastern Nigeria’s IDPs consider critical for their global recognition, inclusivity, and hopeful future; and to advocate for efficiency-oriented reintegration strategies through the incorporation of gender-sensitive approaches both in the UN-IDP reintegration programmes and in scholarly literatures. This study aims to be beneficial in unveiling and helping reintegration actors, especially the UN, to tailor attentions to the specific yet unspoken needs of women and girls in IDP camps in northern Nigeria and the country in general. Although this study is focused on Nigeria’s case, I am interested in how reintegration can be both efficient and effective with specific gender needs being considered across the globe. This study seeks to contribute to the insufficient scholarly literatures on the phenomenon under study; it will enhance the awareness of IDPs’ specific challenges and needs in Nigeria which could facilitate assistance crucial to their needs from the UN and other humanitarian actors. This study will also provide information to future policy development that will affect Nigeria’s female IDPs in general and those in the northeast in particular, especially on IDPs’ needs and healing requirements as reintegration takes place. With the above considered, this study prioritizes the possibilities of significantly influencing the entire process of IDP reintegration in Nigeria, aiding the UN’s functioning and also informing strategies for the reintegration of female IDPs in Nigeria and other post-conflict communities across the globe. Research Location and Design The Teachers’ Village Camp, located in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, was chosen amongst other affected states in northeastern Nigeria. This choice was made not only because the 9 Boko Haram crisis sprang from the heart of Borno, but because the state accommodates the highest number of displaced persons affected by the insurgency in the state's many IDP camps (see Figure 3 and 4). The study utilizes a qualitative research orientation. Phenomenological interpretative research methods were used to study the experiences of IDPs both before and within the Teachers’ Village Camp, their sense of national and international belongingness and/or abandonment, and their specific gender needs. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 IDPs (six females and six males) between the ages of 18 and 60, and 12 organizational officials (five females and seven males) who interface with them. The organizational officials’ interviews informed triangulation in the data-gathering method, to verify, complement, and support data gathered from IDP-based interviews. Four (4) focus-group discussions with a total of 28 participants were conducted. These focus groups’ discussions were facilitated to track the consistency of the themes that emerged from individual-based interviews in order to make informed recommendations. Participant and camp observations were utilized by the researcher. The number of participants in this study was chosen to yield a number of interviews manageable for the scope of this work while yielding saturation. Summary and Outline This thesis contains five chapters. Chapter One introduces the entire study, the research problem, and the rationale for this study. Chapter Two covers the review of written scholarly literatures that encompasses how the UN reintegrates displaced persons, the gender- sensitivity of its programmes and field operations, and the particular reintegration challenges in place amongst Nigeria’s IDPs, especially women. The qualitative research methodologies and conceptual framework that were adopted for the study, as well as the fieldwork experience, are discussed in 10 the third chapter of this thesis. In Chapter Four, I discuss the findings and results gathered from the study’s participants as well as answering the research questions while analyzing the data. The final chapter of this study is devoted to summary, conclusion, and recommendations to the UN and other stakeholders to make IDP reintegration a need-oriented (gender-sensitive) process rather than a one-size-fits-all solution in the case of Nigeria and beyond. 11 Chapter Two: Literature Review Introduction This chapter attempts to convey existing knowledge on the subject topic while identifying the need for this study. While the methodological frame of this research is qualitative, existing literatures were reviewed to form a basis for the derived research problems highlighted and focused on in this study. Empirical research findings and qualitative literatures, global statistics, UN policy documents, and annual reports form the base of the chapter. Literature review helps to identify what is already known and what is unknown about a given phenomenon. It is beneficial to the researcher in situating a proposed study within the already existing knowledge without having to reinvent the wheel. Literature review therefore provides justification for the need of a study as well as credibility for the proposed study while being grounded in existing research. (Bui, 2014). This study, which focuses on the UN’s reintegration processes for IDPs in Nigeria from a gendered perspective, conceptually situates Nigerian IDPs and the research inquiry within a broader scope called “internationalism”. Internationalism is the concept that identifies every citizen of a country as a citizen of the world (Linklater, 1991). For the purpose of this study, I positioned the UN as the “government of the world”. This chapter begins by examining the evolution of policies or normative frameworks that guide IDP assistance, as well as scholarly debates on where responsibility for IDPs lies. A more descriptive discourse on the topic of internationalism will be attempted in the next chapter. For the Nigerian UN-IDP reintegration approach to be conceptualized in a valid form for this study, it is necessary to review scholarly works on how the UN, as the “government of the world,” reintegrates IDPs in different postdisplacement and post-conflict communities. Additionally, it is imperative also to investigate how specific gendered needs are incorporated into the UN’s interventions and reintegration policies and 12 implementation, given the particularity of the gender-based factor in the case of Nigeria. The latter part of this chapter focuses on the known challenges of Nigerian IDPs identified in the literature. Evolution of IDP Policy The need for international standards for IDPs first became obvious in the 1990s following the increase in the number of people affected by armed conflicts, ethnic strife, and human rights abuses. The peculiar definition and legal framework for these persons of concerns was a challenge for the UN Secretary-General as these situations increased rapidly. 1.2 million people were found forcibly displaced in eleven countries when counted in 1982 (Cohen & Deng, 1998a). By 1995, there were an estimated 20 to 25 million in more than forty countries, accounting for almost twice the number of refugees (Cohen & Deng, 1998a). While relief organizations began to try to help IDPs trapped in the midst of conflicts and in deprivation, there was a question of the clear rules/ policy that would guide their assistance. UNHCR, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and NGOs therefore began to demand or a framework that would define IDPs and their entitlements while promoting the legitimacy of these organizations’ assistance (Weiss & Korn, 2006; Cohen, 2004). Although after the Cold War, the UN had approved humanitarian organizations’ assistance to people whose survival was at stake in Sudan and Iraq in 1989 and 1991 respectively, and subsequently to displaced persons in Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and East Timor, there was still a need for a standard framework to situate and approach IDPs’ protection (Cohen, 2004). While some NGOs– the Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), the Refugee Policy Group, and the World Council of Churches–undertook a joint campaign in 1990 to canvas for IDPs’ support through UN representation and protection (Cohen, 2004; UN Doc. E/CN.4/1993/35), scholars also began to debate where the case of internal displacement should be 13 placed in the international agenda. Internal displacement has distinct characteristics and cannot be solved by applying the traditional methodology of protection used in the refugee context, as argued by Phuong (2004). Hathaway, arguing that the case of internal displacement is no match for refugee-hood, stated that “[a]s codified politically and legally, refugee status is first and foremost a ‘trump card’…which is held not by states but by real live human beings who dare to take their fates into their own hands” (2007, p. 354). In response, Cohen (2007), asserting the similarities in the conditions of refugees and IDPs, reiterated the question of the former UK Secretary of State for International Developments, Hillary Benn: “is it really sensible that we have different systems for dealing with people fleeing their homes dependent on whether they happen to have crossed an international border?” (Cohen, 2007, p. 370). James Grant, UNICEF’s former executive director, also rightly observed that “a minimum safety net” has been created for refugees by the world. This is evident in the swiftness of the UNHCR’s response to them, which happens in a matter of days or weeks whenever they are forced into exile, (Cohen, 2004, p. 461). As detailed in Chapter One of this thesis, the universal definition of refugee as contained in Article 1 sub-section (A)(2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention describes a refugee as someone who: Owing to well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. 14 The refugee definition contained in the 1951 Convention indicates that IDPs are not refugees because they have not left their country of origin, a prerequisite to earn international assistance as a refugee. However, the definition of IDPs as presented in the 1992 report of the United Nations Secretary-General described them as: Persons who have been forced to flee their homes suddenly or unexpectedly in large numbers, as a result of armed conflict, internal strife, systematic violations of human rights or man-made disasters, and who are within the territories of their own country. (Cohen & Deng, 1998a, p. 16). Although the above definition mirrored a wide range of the core circumstances in which issues of internal displacement–involuntary movement within borders– could arise (Mooney, 2005), it also added some discriminative elements of cause, time, and number (Cohen & Deng, 1998a). If the terminology “internally displaced” only refers to those forced to leave their homes “suddenly or unexpectedly,” or “in large numbers,” many serious cases of internal displacement will be excluded (Cohen & Deng, 1998a, p. 17). Cases where natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and famine, as well as human-made disasters such as nuclear or chemical accidents, influence the displacement of large populations cannot be discredited as major triggers of displacement (Mooney, 2005). Cohen and Deng further assert that the term “forced to flee” is too narrow (1998, p. 17). There are situations where people are “obliged” to leave not only because of the consequence of suffering the causes of displacement but in anticipation of an impending conflict (Cohen & Deng 1998a; Mooney 2005). The demolition of homes and forced removal of over five hundred thousand people in Zimbabwe in 2005 or the forced eviction of minorities in 15 Bosnia during the war are examples (Mooney, 2005). Mooney also submits that the notion of fleeing “in large numbers” is problematic (2005, p. 11). A case in point is found in Colombia, where displaced persons often fled in smaller numbers to avoid drawing conspicuous attention to themselves. As a result, the UNSG, with a team of international lawyers, sought to rework the definition in order to eradicate the discriminative elements in the previous version (Cohen & Deng, 1998a). Important refinements were introduced thereafter. The modified definition that emerged from the Representative of the Secretary-General on IDPs’ deliberations stated: Persons or group of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular, as a result of, or in order to avoid the effects of, armed conflict, situation or generalized violence, violation of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border (UNOCHA, 2004, p. 1). The new definition eliminates all requirements as regards cause, time, and number, thereby including particular persons who have been expelled from or obligated to leave their homes. While some scholars argue that the definition is not encompassing enough because IDPs affected by development projects and poverty-affected migrants have been omitted by the omission of the word “development," the modified definition of IDPs attempts to apply balance between too narrow a structure that risks the exclusion of people who share comparable situations and a broad one which tends to detract from the specific need for protection and assistance rising from forced displacements (Mooney, 2005). Although the definition does not also include those who migrate 16 voluntarily, it explicitly uses the qualifier “in particular” to broaden the scope of involuntary movement in order not to exclude possible persons of concerns in the future (Weiss & Korn, 2006; Mooney 2005; Cohen & Deng, 1998a). Gaining substantial public acceptance for the Guiding Principles was another responsibility its founders and proponents were charged with. The principles, after their compilation, received enormous support from Norway upon their presentation to the UN General Assembly, while Ambassador Christian Strohal– representing Austria– also skillfully mobilized more than fifty states to co-sponsor the resolution to recognize the Guiding Principles. The Nordic countries, African and Latin American states, and the United States also assisted in this regard even before the principles were accepted by the Commission of Human Rights and the UN General Assembly (Cohen, 2004). Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan supported the Guiding Principles as soon as they were completed, referring to them as one of the “notable examples” of the UN achievements in 1998 in strengthening the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance (UN, 1998, par. 10). In his report to the General Assembly and ECOSOC in 2003, he also recommended that they encourage member states to develop national laws, policies, and minimum standards “consistent with” the Guiding Principles (UN, 2003). The Brookings Project on Internal Displacement, on the other hand, promoted a number of workshops, seminars, and conferences on the Guiding Principles between 1998-2005 and also had the Guiding Principles translated into French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic –the five official languages of the UN– including the local languages of many affected communities (Weiss & Korn, 2006). The descriptive rather than legal nature of the Guiding Principles aided their acceptance. Operational agencies positively embraced the principles because they provided a legitimate document to turn to on the field (Cohen, 2004). They have provided guidance to all actors, no 17 matter their level of operation, to adapt the principles to their distinct mandate and perspectives in response to IDPs (Phuong 2004). The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) initially frowned at the idea of creating these IDP framework, but came to back the standard of the Guiding Principles because they do not only reaffirm existing laws, but also line up with the ICRC's and IOM's mandate to protect victims of armed conflicts, whether internal or international (Weiss & Korn, 2006; Phuong, 2004). The enormous recognition the Guiding Principles have gained has transcended the UN to regional bodies, non-government organizations (NGOs), and other humanitarian actors as a guide of their response to internal displacement (Mooney, 2005 & Phuong, 2004). The principles have also shaped the UNHCR’s operational response to IDPs (Diagne & Entwisle, 2008). UNHCR has improved its response from an “inter-agency collaborative approach” to a more committed effort to act as a “cluster lead”. Hence, it has refined its responsibility to specifically cover three areas: “protection, camp coordination and… management, and emergency shelter” (Feller 2006, p. 12). Glasman (2017), in his study on a short history of the UNHCR’s classification in Central Africa between 1961-2015, also recorded the evolution of the prism of the UNHCR’s work from a “juridical and political problem” of protection into “an economic and social question” of self-reliance and integration. This evolution has led to its devotion not exclusively to refugees, but to a generic idea of “people of concern”, which includes the internally displaced, expellees, or returnees (p. 348-351). To the UNHCR, the Guiding Principles are more than a simple compilation and restatement of legal rules. The UNHCR’s 2007 IDP Policy Framework and Implementation Strategy attests to the relevance of these principles and their inclusion into the UNHCR's activities of protection and human rights support for IDPs (Diagne & Entwisle, 2008). 18 Although the Guiding Principles, in strict legal terms, are not binding on states, Kälin (2006) admits that their authoritative nature stems not from their elaborative format but from their content as a restatement of international human rights and humanitarian law that responds to the needs of IDPs. Some argue that the Guiding Principles have metamorphosed from soft law to hard law, that is, evolving from sets of acceptable rules to legal ones, especially in Africa (Beyani, 2008). While acknowledging that a group of states contest the validity of the Guiding Principles (Abebe, 2011), Kälin (2011) asserts that the 2005 World Summit in New York was a breakthrough, as the Guiding Principles gained unanimous recognition from heads of states and governments as an important international mechanism for the protection of IDPs. For example, Khartoum State Principles on Relocation were evidently derived directly from Principle 6 on protection from arbitrary displacements endorsed by the United Nations (Diagne & Entwisle, 2008). Cohen (2004) also noted that because the Guiding Principles mirrored existing laws already ratified by states, it boosted the confidence of state governments to adopt them. The Guiding Principles therefore recorded some recognition both at the regional and sub-regional level. For instance, 2009 saw the African Union (AU) adopt its first legally binding regional Convention for the Protection and Assistance of IDPs in Africa, also known as the Kampala Convention - in commemoration of the city in which it was adopted (Abebe, 2011; & Kalin, 2011). The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also suggested that the Principles should be adopted by member-states. The Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation for Europe (OSCE) reportedly recognized them as “useful tools” (Abebe, 2011, p. 292). Despite the challenges of how sensitive the issue of internal displacement was, the limited support from governments, and sovereignty concerns (Cohen, 2004), the creation of the mandate 19 of the representative of the Secretary General on Internal Displacement in 1992 and the adoption of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in 1998 were crucial events in the history of human rights protection. These policy initiatives brought to light IDPs’ recognition as a vulnerable population in need of specific human rights protection. However, in spite of the recorded success of this international soft law and despite the obvious similarities between the situation of IDPs and refugees, there remains an ongoing scholarly debate as to who is responsible for the protection and assistance of IDPs given the nature of their displacement as internal refugees (Ajayi, 2014). IDPs: Whose Responsibility? The challenge and question of whose responsibility IDPs are is as old as the subject of internal displacement itself. The issue of sovereign equality of states as founded in Article 2(1) of the UN Charter and the principle of non-intervention in internal affairs in Article 2(7) have been a founding concern whenever the protection of IDPs was placed on the international radar, with the sole exception of deploying enforcement measures sanctioned by the Security Council under Chapter VII. The question of intervention is a disturbing issue for anyone who shares a commitment to both human dignity and national self-determination. States, in protecting their sovereignty, are also prone to questioning mechanisms whose outcome further reinstates their obligations and makes domestic matters international ones (Abebe, 2009); yet the international recognition of the Guiding Principles and its absorption into domestic laws have altered states’ behavior in owning the responsibility of their internally displaced (Orchard, 2010b). This change came about because of the growing awareness amongst states that the issue of internal displacement is not only an internal matter, but one of international concern, based on the realization that if internal displacements and conflicts spill across borders, an entire region could 20 be in turmoil (Wille, 2006). Despite this internationally driven understanding amongst states, scholarly controversies about the international community’s intervention in states’ internal affairs remain solidly premised on concerns of sovereignty and non-interference (Abebe, 2011). In order to understand the lingering character of this debate on the protection of states’ right to sovereignty or otherwise, post-World War II history is very informative. The era birthed the old rule– “that every internationally recognized state is the absolute sovereign of its own territory and everything in it, people very much included”– which left the world silent in the face of genocide and massacres, routinely political oppressions, and personal dictatorships (Luttwak 1999, p. 59). The old rule only gave order of some sort to “tyrants” who used their citizens as objects for whatever they pleased provided they were not violating another state’s sovereignty, Luttwak added (1999, p. 59). The Security Council was also reluctant to act on issues regarding humanitarian actors during the Cold War. Weiss (2003) recorded that there was no mention of the humanitarian aspect of conflict in any resolution from the creation of the UN in 1945 until the SixDay War of 1967, also known as the Arab-Israeli War; and the first mention of the ICRC did not occur until 1978. Although the Security Council in the 1970s and 1980s gave limited priority to the humanitarian aspect of conflict, “the early nineteen-nineties can be seen as a watershed” (Weiss 2003, p. 432). The first half of the decade saw twice as many resolutions passed as in the first 45 years of the body’s entire history, with repeated emphasis on Chapter VII of the Charter that refers to humanitarian crises as a threat to international peace and security while demanding that actors respect the principle of humanitarian actors (Weiss 2003). The creation of “Operation Provide Comfort”--initially promoted by George H.W Bush and sanctioned by the Security Council to carve security zones for the Kurds who were maltreated in Iraq in 1991--and America’s many interventions in the protection of civilians of sovereign 21 countries in the early 21st century simply upturned the traditional view that “sovereignty always outranks human rights whenever the two collide” (Luttwak 1999, p. 59 & 60). Humanitarian intervention's collision with sovereignty undoubtedly was the most controversial topic within the UN circles by the end of the 1990s. Luttwak (1999) categorized Kofi Annan’s rule “whereby human rights outrank sovereignty” as a new rule that must prevail (because no democratic government can openly authorize the old system where sovereignty outranks human rights), thereby announcing the death of the old rule (p. 60). This position, of course, suffered many critics. Wheeler (2000) argued that what was meant to be the era where “substantive conception” directs “specific cases” worthy of outside/ humanitarian intervention in respect for sovereignty has increasingly given birth to policies that legitimize humanitarian interventions in international society (p. 21). Ajayi (2014), citing Hathaway’s opinion on the role of international community vis-à-vis international law on internal displacement, recorded: Refugee law, as part of international human rights law, constitutes a recent and carefully constrained exception to the long-standing rule of exclusive jurisdiction of States over their inhabitants. While it was increasingly accepted in the early 1950’s that the world community had a legitimate right to set standards and scrutinize the human rights record of the various countries, it was unthinkable that [the international] …law would intervene in the territory of a state to protect citizens from their own government (p. 4). Hathaway further opines that IDPs’ needs can be answered by efficient implementation of “generic human rights,” asserting that the Guiding Principles added virtually nothing to the pre-existing 22 international human rights laws (Hathaway 2007, p. 359). Phuong (2004) supports the argument that internal displacement is a “symptom of state dysfunction” that is now quickly “associated with ...abuse or ineffective sovereignty” (p. 209-210). The author argues that internal displacement often arises from a state’s claim over its territorial autonomy–a characteristic of a sovereign state– and a physical manifestation of political challenges to state’s authority (Phuong, 2004). Weak establishment of sovereignty and lack of control over a defined territory inevitably calls for internal displacement. For example, the legacy of the colonial era in Africa--as the people directly concerned were left out while most African boundaries were drawn--explains why the central authorities are often challenged and why the continent records the largest numbers of the displaced (Phuong, 2004). In contrast, Cohen and Deng argued that the traditional definition of sovereignty that excludes outside intervention needs to be amended if the issue of internal displacement will ever be tackled (Cohen, 2006). Responsibility accompanies sovereignty; that is, there is no sovereignty without responsibility to citizens. States therefore cannot adjoin themselves to the rights of sovereignty without respectfully executing the internationally recognized responsibilities to their citizens. Cohen and Deng (1998a) further posit that effective sovereignty is a system of law and order that is responsive to the national population for justice and general welfare. Therefore, sovereignty should not be used as an excuse for maltreatment as some governments do. Sovereignty, however, includes accountability not only to the domestic constituency but also to the international community (Cohen & Deng, 1998a). The experiences of the past decades explain the higher expectation placed on sovereign political authorities to respect fundamental human rights. 23 Since the Peace of Westphalia, the three valid recognized characteristics of a sovereign state have been recognized as territory, authority, and population, supplemented by a recent fourth, respect for human rights (Weiss, 2003); it is, however, invalid to summarize the root cause of internal displacement as solely the physical manifestation of the fight over territory and sovereignty. Factors underpinning internal displacement are multiple and often interlinked. The dramatic increase in the numbers of the internally displaced in the 1990s cannot be totally divorced from the impact of the Cold War's end. Liberia and Somalia, who dived into civil wars afterwards, were reportedly amongst the largest recipients of the US military assistance in sub-Saharan Africa during the 1980s. The collapse of the Soviet Union also uncovered the nationalist aspirations and ethnic rivalries that displaced millions more in Europe and Central Asia (Cohen & Deng, 1998b). Disparities in wealth and land ownership were the root of conflict elsewhere. The erosion-induced displacement in Nagaon, Morigaon, Barpeta, Dhubri, and Goalpara districts in North-east India should not be ignored (Jana, 2008). Rwanda and Burundi’s–Hutus and Tutsis– struggle of high population density and limited fertile space cannot be disregarded (Cohen & Deng, 1998b). The effort of successive northern governments to impose Islam on the black Africans in South Sudan also accounted for the displacement of four million people. Government repression against its citizens is another root cause. The two million Kurds who fled for their lives as a result of government subjugation in Turkey are an example (Cohen & Deng, 1998b). Admittedly, the principal responsibility for promoting the security and well-being of IDPs rests with their governments, as stated in the third of the Guiding Principles and as supported by the international human rights and humanitarian law that requires governments to provide lifesupporting protection and assistance for those under their jurisdiction. However, if states are unable to fulfil their responsibility, they are expected to request and accept outside offers of aid. 24 If they put their citizens at risk by refusing or deliberately obstructing access (Cohen, 2006), the international community has a right, even a responsibility, to step in to intervene accordingly (Carney, 2005 & Cohen, 2006). On the basis of this responsibility to humanity, governments have sponsored a host of policy initiatives and published unprecedented reports on the topic. One of the most frequently cited and comprehensive of such policies, although still debated as problematic, is the 2001 published Canadian-inspired International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) Responsibility to Protect (Weiss, 2003). The document, which serves as a guiding principle for the international community’s intervention in states, is girded with the core principle that “sovereignty implies responsibility” and the three elements of such responsibility: responsibility to prevent, responsibility to react, and responsibility to rebuild (ICISS 2001, p. xi). That sovereignty implies a state’s responsibility to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, and all sorts of war against humanity has justified and legitimized the Security Council’s action in a range of humanitarian violations, especially those involving a large population of displaced persons within or without their borders (Doyle, 2015). Weiss (2003) therefore concludes that a country’s sovereignty assumes less importance and there is greater chance for outside interference if the abuses of human rights are grave enough. Phuong (2004), in affirming that internal displacement is a potential threat to the territorial integrity of a state, stated that IDPs could serve as “political pawns” to parties in conflict, and the presence of an external intervention could endorse support for one party and its conquered areas (p. 211). Cohen argued that governments could commonly use sovereignty as an excuse to prevent international aid to their displaced citizens (Cohen, 2002). For example, displaced Kurds in Turkey during the PKK insurgency were denied international protection and assistance despite their dire 25 need of it (Cohen, 2006). Humanitarian access was also reduced to about 67% of the vulnerable population in Northern Darfur (Ramsbotham, 2004). In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala government, to its credit, ensured that food supplies reached displaced Tamils, but restricted medical and other essential supplies (Cohen, 2002). During civil wars, the international community’s assistance is seen as a means to strengthen the opponents of the governments, while undermining national governments’ authority, particularly if aids are delivered to the insurgent areas. In a 1999 report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council, Kofi Annan acknowledged that combatants also target civilians in conflict by restricting their access to lifesaving assistance or indeed starving them. Restrictions of humanitarian organizations' access to those in need put hundreds of thousands at risk in Angola, Kosovo (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), and Sierra Leone. The parties to the conflicts in Somalia in 1992 deliberately obstructed the delivery of essential food and medical supplies, as was the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UN Doc. S/1999/957). Annan concluded that in the absence of the international presence, affected civilians in these crises will continue to live at the mercy of the warring parties while depending on them for supplies required for their survival (UN Doc. S/1999/957). Surprisingly, Orchard’s (2010a) study on soft law as a norm-generating mechanism recorded that international protection for IDPs is deemed an illusion in the Rwandan case, because the international community did nothing to prevent the massacre of displaced persons by the Rwandan army in the process of closing down the Kibeho camp in 1995. Although the killing of 10,000 Kosovars in 1999 resulted in intervention, Doyle (2015) asserted that the historically misplaced definition of non-intervention led to the silence of not only the international community but the whole world, except in Ireland when 20 percent of Irish population died in a famine in 1739. The international outcry across Europe and North America was not heard until the repetition 26 of this event in 1847 in the Great Famine where 3.5 percent of Irish lost their lives again (Doyle, 2015). Despite the fact that for the UN system issues of internal displacement are more approached as a humanitarian challenge rather than one of human rights for which states should take primary responsibility (Abebe, 2009), there is a concern and fear that the inclusion of IDPs into the international protection regime as refugees could prompt a shift in the level of states’ commitment to the well-being of their citizens. The shift in responsibility could in turn increase the obligations of fewer states under the international conventions (Ajayi, 2014). Cohen and Deng (1998b), analyzing what they call “muscle and money” in their work on the uprooted exodus within borders, acknowledge that as beautiful as humanitarian intervention and assistance are, unless accompanied by steps to address the causes of these crises and appropriate reintegration procedures, it is only a matter of time before the humanitarian actors get burnt out seeing that these conflicts and displacement are mostly rampant in developing countries (p. 16). Movements to eradicate internal displacement or limit it as the case may be, need to be built on a lasting commitment not only to manage and mediate disputes peacefully but to intervene early enough. If intervention is activated early enough, communities, though in conflict, could be a useful tool in stabilizing their own reintegration with fewer financial provisions. Conflicts that are allowed to fester for long will not only absorb more financial commitments but can also produce mass displacement that could account for political and economic ruins of which the brunt could also be felt in neighboring states, regions, and the international community as a whole (Cohen & Deng, 1998b; Wille, 2006). Doyle (2015) ascertains that as humans we share with one another a humanitarian protection principle that existed before the internationally developed regime of fundamental 27 human rights after World War II. Doyle (2015) quotes Gladstone’s description of this principle as he condemned the Bulgarian Horrors in 1876 and 1879. He said: Now there are states of affairs in which human sympathy refuses to be confined by the [old] rules, necessarily limited and conventional, of international law. . . . Let us cast aside our narrow and ill-conceived construction of the ideas of a former period . . . in order to protect humanity and defend justice (p. 11). The then Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in his report on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts also advocated for ways in which the Security Council should act in defence of our common humanity and promote “full respect” for the recognition of international humanitarian laws by states and non-state actors, including through appropriate judicial processes against human rights violators (UN Doc. S/1999/957, par. 35). He restated the dilemma and challenge a year later in his Millennium Report to the General Assembly: “if humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica – to gross and systematic violations of human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity?” (ICISS 2001, p. 2). The responsibility to humanitarian reform and protection of IDPs taken upon by the UN has informed its enforcement of a better coordination amongst its agencies for assistance delivery to displaced victims. Owing to the fact that the humanitarian “cluster approach” to IDPs’ protection treads a less threatening and less politically fraught path vis-a-vis states, the UN has managed to record operational activities in some affected places. However, many organizations within the cluster approach are armed with limited experience in protection except for the UNHCR and ICRC (Abebe 2009, p. 159). Building a lasting and stable order for human protection is as important as the decisionmaking process of a normative framework for the intervention of the international community in 28 national issues. As earlier established through scholarly works, the objectives of the international community’s intervention in states’ internal affairs--particularly issues of internal displacement-are not to nullify nation-states’ sovereignty, but rather to help uphold sovereignty because sovereignty is responsibility, because of displacement's potential to disrupt international peace and security, and because of our common responsibility to humanity. Articulating these principles is definitely not the same as honoring them. As challenging as ratifying of any law is to any state, so is honoring any humanitarian protection. Intervention does not end in deciding the authorization of a law or in creating a framework for institutions to be guided by while dealing with displaced persons. All formal and documentation processes of the international community’s intervention and humanitarian assistance are rendered null and void if policies created do not find their ways to the displaced person in a government shelter the next day. Although articulating these reforms denotes that it is an intense UN-driven commission (Abebe, 2009), successful implementation could only be affirmed by the displaced persons if the field operations are tailored to their particular needs “… so that decent objectives are not tarnished by inappropriate means” (ICISS 2001, p. 5). The scholarship reviewed above has shown that the emergence of intellectual discussions on internal displacement as an international concern in the 1990s brought about some debate; this controversy is not only confronted by scholars, but also by states and the UN as an international body. The overarching question hinges on the legitimacy of some existing international laws in respect of IDPs. Admittedly, there is an encouraging growth of consensus among these actors since the rise of the phenomenon. Literary works have also documented a level of success in the partial acceptance of the UN framework by states, the international community, regional bodies, NGOs, and even scholars. There is also consensus that displaced persons need assistance. However, the continuous overemphasis on the distinctions between the identity of IDPs and refugees still poses 29 a threat to the UN’s culture of humanitarianism. It also takes focus away from how the projected framework can be improved to proffer solutions to the vast number of challenges faced by these people of concern, including IDPs’ gender-based, environmental, economic, and security needs, and so on. Considering the importance of a wholesome intervention approach, one is left to further investigate if a gender-sensitive strategy/policy as a post-conflict reintegration tool is employed by the UN in its handling of the IDP situation. UN-IDP Reintegration Framework: Gender Sensitive? While the UN expressed commitment to condemning discrimination of any sort against women through the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, women and children are still excessively represented amongst the affected victims in conflict. Even though men are numbered as the largest population of combatants and mass executions in many recent wars, the disintegration of families during conflict not only suddenly changes the responsibilities and workload of women, it often leaves women and girls as a particular vulnerable population to gender-based violence and sexual exploitation, rape, and forced prostitution (Taylor-Robinson & Oleribe, 2016; UN, 1999). Inclusive of the previous effect of conflict on women is the fact that they often account for the largest number of internally displaced persons and refugees; hence the burden of the above described impacts of displacement is unduly borne by them (UN, 1999). Although then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had in 1999 recommended measures to address the vulnerability faced by women and children in a report to the General Assembly, he recommended that a “special protection and assistance requirement” should be “fully addressed” to ensure appropriate peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations (UN,1999). Yet, in 2001–two 30 years later– the UNHCR’s report recorded that out of the 19.8 million displaced persons worldwide, 80% were women and minors (UN, 2002). Displaced women and minors in postconflict Burundi were subjected to violence, rape, health challenges, insecurity, and so on. They bore this brunt even in the camps that they assumed would be a place of refuge. These atrocities were often committed by other men in the camp, including local authorities (Bosmans, Gonzalez, Brems & Temmerman, 2012; Kadende-Kaiser, 2012). The living conditions in displaced persons’ camps are often characterized by violence, domestic impoverishments, even sexual violations, as was recounted by Colombian adolescents after a number of violence-induced conflicts (Bosmans et al., 2012). In Liberia, many women and girls, out of about one million returning IDPs, struggled with the physical and psychological effects of rape and unwanted pregnancies (UN, 2002). Women's responsibilities to look after others in the camp also threaten their security (UN, 2002). Women in eastern Chad attested to the risk of rape whenever they went out of the settlement to get firewood (Crisp, Kiragu & Tennant, 2007), just as in the case of Ugandan women and girls (UN, 2002). In spite of these gender-based violations, the UNHCR (2016) review of gender equality in operations recorded that the UNHCR's women- and girls-related work has the 2011 Age, Gender and Diversity Policy (AGD) as its guide. The survey assessment of UNHCR’s performance on the above review shows 96% AGD policy integration in its operations (UNHCR, 2016). Between 2002 and 2004, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) conducted a programme titled, “Support for Reproductive Health and Gender Needs for Displaced Populations, with Special Attention to Adolescents” in Colombia (Bosmans et al., 2012, p. 622). Skran’s (2015) empirical study on UNHCR’s gender policy in Sierra Leone recorded that its intervention in Sierra Leone applied two measuring standards for its gender policy: women as a part of the vulnerable group which included 31 the aged, minors and disabled; and promoting women’s place and role in political, social, and economic decision making. The UNHCR also influenced the creation of special centers for women; though numerically limited, they enhanced the wellbeing and political stance of Khailahun district females of Sierra Leone in the 2012 election (Skran, 2015). All State Social Enterprises' respondents (Empresa Social del Estado, ESE) in Bosmans et al.’s (2012) empirical study on the dignity and rights of internally displaced adolescents in Colombia agreed that the UNFPA supports and medical supplies in Columbia were, if not the main source of sustenance, essential in the sexual and reproductive health programs for the internally displaced. For the UNHCR, its targeted action for promoting and supporting gender equality for persons of concern (displaced persons) has been focused on “empowering women and girls to analyze their situation from the perspective of age, gender and diversity, access information on their rights, define their own priorities and take action they consider appropriate to address inequalities” (UNHCR, 2008, p. 13-14). Despite these attempts at gender-sensitive approaches, Nakaya’s (2012) study on the UN peacekeeping mission for women and minors in Cambodia and Timorleste concluded that the postconflict institutional reforms approach of the UN has been generally inconsistent and incoherent. Skran (2015), noting Nwogu’s assertion, also stated that Liberian returnees, particularly women, experienced innumerable difficulties in their reintegration process. Their reintegration was characterized by complexities of current states and needs, a lookalike of the reason for their displacement in the first place. Challenges of basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing were paramount in the reintegration experiences of Liberian women (Yacob-Haliso, 2008). While some returnee women experiencing reintegration in Liberia had some positive opinions of the 32 reintegration process for the reason that “home is far better than exile,” they still referred to the outstanding help and support they received from the UN while in exile (Yacob-Haliso, 2008, p.13). Admittedly, education was the second-largest UNHCR-initiated community empowerment program in Sierra Leone as it encouraged many villagers to reprioritize academic desire. Although only 25% of the entire program benefited women directly, vocational trainings offered to women afforded them a better economic life (Skran, 2015). The UNICEF-IDP programmes in Sudan set a clear educational platform for enrolling and retaining displaced girls in educational facilities (Gururaja, 2000). Unlike in Sierra Leone, education was a reintegration challenge in Liberia’s experience. One participant in Yacob-Haliso’s (2008) study, comparing her exilic experience to her home-country’s, said, “in exile [as a refugee in Sierra Leone], my children were attending schools that were tuition free…but here [Liberia], I have to spend almost all my earning for school fees and school materials” (p. 10). Another fundamental challenge of reintegration faced by displaced women is repossessing their lands and properties in the post-conflict era. No community having experienced conflict, no matter how small or short, is insulated from some level of environmental security challenge amongst the displaced in its immediate post-conflict era (Leckie, 2009). The UN recounted success in a number of land and property interventions for displaced persons, such as the returning Tajikistan properties reclamation; Tutsis and Hutus of Rwanda were also assisted with security as they returned home after the genocide (Cohen, 2002). However, pre-conflict House Land Policy laws (HLP) still require reform, because they discriminate against women for equal access to HLP rights in countries emerging from conflicts (Leckie, 2009). While Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) IDPs spoke of how they fell into abject debt because they could not afford the rent imposed on them by their host communities, Somalia’s women IDPs were subjected to rape because 33 landowners had hindered them from constructing sanitation facilities and forced them to use a large refuse dump, hence, a rape site for women (Crisp et al., 2007). Since the 1990s, the UN has had several peacekeeping operations in places such as Western Sahara (MINURSO), Cambodia (UNTAC), Guatemala (MINUGUA), El Salvador (ONUSAL), Haiti (MICIVIH), Georgia (UNOMIG), Mozambique (ONUMOZ), Rwanda (HRFOR), Bosnia and Herzegovina (OHR/UNMIBH), Kosovo (UNMIK), East-Timor (UNTAET), Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE), Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Afghanistan (UNAMA), Iraq (SRSG/CPA), and elsewhere. There is not one post-conflict peace operation amongst the above mentioned that has a workable policy to address the concern of HLP rights in the reintegration of both displaced women and men (Leckie, 2009). A noticeable challenge of the international community, particularly the UN, is that the integration of the HLP rights policies in post-conflict communities has rather been reduced to the construction of camps both for IDPs and refugees (Leckie, 2009), which has not only proven to be unsafe for women and girls but also accounted for fewer documented successes in that aspect of post-conflict reintegration. A sustainable medical service amongst the displaced is not only a human rights issue but a public health priority (Salama, Spiegel & Brennan, 2001). There is no doubt that displaced people live in areas where HIV and malaria are often public issues. Yet they have limited or no access to health services (Spiegel, Hering, Paik & Schilperoord, 2010). Khan and Ahmad (2014), admitting the Pakistani government’s difficulties in dealing with large-scale internal displacement, concluded that the cost of addressing IDPs’ health challenges warrants the assistance of the international community. Colombians recalled UNFPA as one of the agencies which assisted them in implementing the National Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy (Bosmans et al., 2012, p. 34 622). The World Food Program, UNICEF, IOM, and NGOs offered medical supplies amongst other items to large numbers of Rwandan internally displaced (Cohen, 2002). On the contrary, Khailahun in Sierra Leone housed nearly half of the five UNHCR reintegration implemented projects. Yet their women voiced their dissatisfaction with the health system as only 4% of the reintegration projects’ budget was designated to health concerns (Skran, 2015). Also, female Liberian returnees affirm that access to healthcare, sufficient clean water, and sanitation was inconsistent (Yacob-Haliso, 2008). Although the social aspect of reintegration is often multifaceted and sometimes complicated, the problem of social support remains a reintegration challenge (Yacob-Haliso, 2008). Female Liberian returnees affirmed that they experienced social marginalization. A participant, noting the discrimination against her child, said “my one child is denied the right to play with Liberian children, they call him ‘you Mandingo boy’” (Yacob-Haliso 2008, p.11). Although many IDPs are accepted by their host communities, they are often excluded from the socio-political activities of that community (Akume, 2015). The implication of such is both the restriction of IDPs’ rights and the violation of human rights. Summarily, guaranteeing the full reintegration of all displaced persons is a hard-to-swallow pill because they technically need the recreation of their entire lives, which spans economic, political, social, and psychological concerns after a significant uprooting (Skran, 2015). However, successful and effective reintegration of displaced persons according to their need can build confidence in peace processes (Yacob-Haliso, 2008). Unfortunately, the UN policy and field assistance are often characterized by agencies’ lack of awareness of how their actions and inactions affect displaced and war affected persons, particularly the females who look to them for help. 35 Personality and individual convictions seem to drive the UN approach to IDPs rather than institutional and system-wide agendas (Bagshaw & Paul, 2004). Nigeria’s IDP Challenges Nigeria’s experience with IDPs can be traced back to the aftermath of the Biafran War (1967-1970), which resulted in the displacement of ten million people (Global IDP Project, 2002). Ever since, various internal turmoils such as interethnic, religious, and agrarian conflicts have resulted in the establishment of various IDP camps across the nation. These camps were supported by foreign agencies such as UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and NGOs like the Catholic Relief Services and Medicins Sans Frontières, all providing aid to Nigeria’s internally displaced (Global IDP Project, 2002). Nigeria’s post- Boko Haram insurgency era is not immune from the problem of internal displacement, as many displaced persons have been compelled to find homes in IDP camps across the country. The northeastern region has suffered the highest number of internally displaced since the wake of the Boko Haram insurgency. The September 2017 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) operational report in Nigeria documented 5.2 million people suffering from food insecurity, 3.4 million experiencing acute malnutrition, and 1.7 million displaced in only two of the states in the affected region (UNOCHA, 2017). Poverty, lack of access to jobs, denial of social supports, and negative attitudes from local neighborhood and camp officials have been the daily experience of IDPs in Nigeria (Akume, 2015). According to the UNOCHA 2014 report (as cited by Omilusi, 2016) there has been a steady rise in IDPs from Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. From 2009 to 2010 the number of IDPs rose to 100,000, and from 2010 to 2011 it increased to 130,000. From 2011 to 2012, the number rose to 200,000, growing to 36 290,000 the following year before decreasing slightly to 250,000 between May 2013 and March 2014 it decreased slightly to 250,000. From May to June 2014, it rose again to 436,608, and from August to December IDP numbers rose drastically to over 600,000 persons (Omilusi, 2016, p. 53). The National Population Commission declared that 80% of the 2.2 million people displaced as at 2015 were women and girls (Ogbebo, 2015). Although the UN, AU, and other organizations agreed to the crucial impact of rehabilitation in reintegration processes, the agreement has hardly borne fruit amongst Nigeria’s women IDPs given their circumstances (Oyelude & Osuigwe, 2017). The National Commission for Refugees identified “lack of experience in dealing with IDPs’ issues, inadequate funding, and competing mandates between institutions” as constraints that have continually hindered the Nigerian government’s few attempts to reintegrate and resettle these people. Assistance received by IDPs has hardly gone past the immediate response to crises and emergency (Omilusi 2016, p. 54). Even though the Kuchingoro IDP camp is located in the country’s capital, Abuja –one of the most expensive cities in Nigeria– the camp is still recorded to be infested largely with kwashiorkor (edematous malnutrition) and marasmus diseases, lack of clean water, and common amenities, even though these IDPs are located in proximity to the seat of the government. The only seeming fortune these IDPs have is the land they occupy. Diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, measles, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV, and childhood diarrhea are rampant (TaylorRobinson & Oleribe, 2016). Female IDPs are also forced into non-brothel prostitution, which is often accompanied by inherent risk of HIV, hepatitis B, and other STDs, while others get involved in hard drugs as a source of finance (Taylor-Robinson & Oleribe, 2016). While there are common challenges faced by all IDPs, there are specific challenges peculiar to women who have in times past been used as pawns and weapons of war in Boko 37 Haram’s activities through abductions, detentions, and other tactical gender-based violations including the most notable abduction of 276 Chibok secondary-school girls on April 14, 2014 (Oriola, 2017; Osita-Njoku & Chikere, 2015). Empirical studies with displaced persons in Nigerian IDP camps have proven that women and girls are not only vulnerable to nepotism, sexual assault, and exploitation in camps, but a handful of them have experienced such violations from men in positions of authority in the camps. A 16-year-old girl, narrating her experience of rape by a camp official in Maiduguri, said to Human Rights Watch (2016): He knew my parents were dead, because he is also from Baga. He would bring me food items like rice and spaghetti, so I believed he really wanted to marry me. But he was also asking me for sex. I always told him I was too small [young]. The day he raped me, he offered me a drink in a cup. As soon as I drank it, I slept off. It was in his camp room. I knew something was wrong when I woke up. I was in pain, and blood was coming out of my private part. I felt weak and could not walk well. I did not tell anyone because I was afraid. When my menstrual period did not come, I knew I was pregnant and just wanted to die to join my dead mother. I was too ashamed to even go to the clinic for pregnancy care. I am so young! The man ran away from the camp when he heard I delivered a baby six months ago. I just feel sorry for the baby because I have no food or love to give him. I think he might die. Another young single mother, describing nepotism as a lingering characteristic of the camp experience, said: 38 Life is difficult in the camp, hardly enough to eat. There is food but whoever gets it, gets it. We are not allowed to go out to find work or get extra food. Sometimes I go to the kitchen to scrape pots to get something to eat. They [officials] distribute tickets, some get tickets, and some don’t get. If you don’t get a ticket you get no food. The IDP elders distribute the tickets, so they distribute amongst themselves, they make sure their families get first. Usually distribution of tickets take place at odd times such as at midnight (HRW, 2016). Meanwhile, since the wake of the upsurge that led to large-scale displacement in this region in 2009, most humanitarian actors, even the UN, did not have an operation in Nigeria until 2016 (Loewenberg, 2017). It is worthy of note that this research seeks to take a forward step to contributing to the limited study that focuses on examining both the UN interventions and reintegration process for Nigerian displaced persons in a generic form, and the need of specific gender-driven attention to displaced women and girls in these camps. Given the above review of literature on UN-IDP policies and groundworks, it is evident that the organization approaches the issue with a “pick and choose” (Crisp et al., 2007, p.12) method. The issue of lack of funding has also repeatedly become a force of limitation to the UN bodies in carrying out their duties to these displaced persons (UNHCR, 2008). The prospect of a successful reintegration, being embedded in the sustenance and longevity of implemented programmes, has suffered from lack of adequate funding, thereby inhibiting a large-scale success of reintegration (Omata & Takahashi, 2016). The behavioral patterns of displaced persons in postconflict eras are often influenced largely by their experiences during the conflict, which also 39 inform what expectations they should have of the future (Jacob, Abia-Bassey, Nkanga & Aliyu, 2016); therefore, it is important to note that the inability to cater for such people appropriately poses a threat to the peacekeeping of the affected nation, neighboring countries, and ultimately the international community (Akume, 2015; Wille, 2006). Summary Even though international assistance for IDPs is growing, they obviously do not have the same legal status and aid entitlement from the international humanitarian community as do refugees. Despite the report of UNHCR’s help to millions of displaced persons, only a small percentage of the displaced is often reached. There is an obvious need for improvement in the cluster approach, seeing that different agencies of the UN only attend to their areas of interest in dealing with IDPs. These improvements are pertinent for Nigeria’s displaced women who have gone through abuses, humiliation, shame, loss and all sorts of violations. 40 Chapter Three: Research Methodology Background on the Region of Study and Research Location History records that the Boko Haram insurgency that led to the death of many and the increased number of displaced persons in the country originated from Borno state in 2002 (Aghedo & Osumah 2012). This insurgency has produced about 2.2 million displaced persons in the country (Loewenberg, 2017; IDMC, 2017). In February 2014, Boko Haram members shot and burned to death 59 secondary school boys at Buni Yadi, near the state’s capital city of Damaturu. Some of the students’ bodies were burned to ashes (Hemba, 2014; Oriola, 2017). More recently, the Islamist group kidnapped 110 school girls from 11 to 19 years old from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, located in Bulabulin, Yunusari Local Government area of Yobe State, in the northeast part of Nigeria (BBC Africa, 2018; International Crisis Group, 2018; Searcey, 2018). Additionally, spontaneous attacks on villages and cities by Boko Haram continue till the present date, making people homeless as they flee to IDP camps across Yobe and Borno states (Hemba, 2014; International Crisis Group, 2018). A visual representation of Boko Haram ‘hot beds’ is shown below. 41 Figure 2. Map of Nigeria with Boko Haram hotbeds Source: World Watch Monitor (2017) Nigeria: Benue death toll 60 over past 10 days, admits police chief. Retrieved from: https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/03/nigeria-benue-death-toll-60over-past-ten-days-admits-police-chief/ The northeastern region of Nigeria, particularly Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, suffered greatly in the wake of the Boko Haram mayhem in 2002. Boko Haram, which began as an Islamic jihadist movement called Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād in Borno State in 2002, aims to propagate the tenets and doctrines of Islam. The movement later became confrontational and militant against constitutional government authorities and institutions such as educational systems, which earned the group the alias “Boko Haram,” which means “western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language, the lingua franca of northern Nigeria (Aghedo & Osumah, 2012; 42 Oriola, 2017). Boko Haram encouraged its followers to drop out of western schools and reject serving and being employed by the Nigerian government, which they regard as an infidel system that does not adhere to their doctrines and brand of Islam as a religion and philosophy (Aguwa, 2017). Although scholars, governments, and other actors have different explanation as to the root cause of Boko Haram, the reasons for the insurgency are beyond the scope of this work. The effects of the insurgency are more important to this thesis. The Islamic sect launched and took responsibilities for several attacks across northern Nigeria including Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Adamawa, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Despite the record of all the affected states, the northeastern region, particularly Borno and Yobe States, have borne the brunt of the killings and displacements recorded in the aftermath of Boko Haram’s many attacks (Aghedo & Osumah 2012). Suicide bombings, village invasions, sporadic shootings, and above all abduction of women and girls were the weapons of war employed by Boko Haram in the northeastern region (Aghedo & Osumah, 2012. Women and girls have particularly felt the effects of these many attacks, as they became pawns such as sex slaves, female suicide bombers, and even objects of prisoner exchange in negotiations between the sect and the government (Iaccino, 2017; Oriola, 2017). Due to the many targeted attacks on the northeastern region, the region, especially Borno State, has accounted for the highest number of IDPs with 53% of the population recorded as females (see below). 43 Figure 3. Map showing the number of IDPs and Camps in Northern Nigeria as at 2016. Source: Orodata (2016); Internally displaced persons population - June http://www.orodataviz.com/project/internally-displaced-persons-population-june-2016/ 2016. Within Borno State, Maiduguri Local Government Area (LGA), where the Teachers’ Village Camp is located, accounts for the highest number of displaced in the State. 44 Figure 4. Estimated number of IDPs in Borno State per LGA as at 2016. Source: International Crisis Group (2016). Nigeria: Women and the Boko Haram Insurgency Africa Report N°242, 5 December 2016. Brussels, Belgium. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/242-nigeria-women-and-the-boko-haram%20Insurgency.pdf 45 The study location for this research is the Teachers’ Village Camp in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno state in the north-east region of Nigeria. As at 2016, the camp had an estimated IDPs population of 8466. The table shows the gender breakdown of the IDPs. Figure 5. Total population of IDPs in the 11 identified and functional camps in Maiduguri as at November 2016. TOTAL POPULATION OF IDPs IN THE ELEVEN (11) IDENTIFIED AND FUNCTIONAL CAMPS IN MAIDUGURI METROPOLIS AND LIBERATED LGAs AS AT 15TH NOVEMBER, 2016. S/N 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. CAMP Bakasi Dalori I (FTC) Dalori II (KOFA) EYN/CAN SEC. Farm Centre Goni Kachallari Gubio Madinatu Mogcolis NYSC Teacher’s Village OVERALL TOTAL M/A 4,007 3,227 1,536 1,571 1,910 936 2,659 448 653 845 1,797 19,589 KEYs: * M/A - -Male Adult * F/A -- Female Adult * C/B -- Children Boys * CG -- Children Girls *P/W -- Pregnant Women * L/M -- Lactating Mothers F/A 6,115 5,931 3,085 2,584 3,831 1,282 2,860 698 554 1,107 1,753 29,800 C/B 5,097 5,246 2,016 1,442 3,812 1,052 3,130 810 497 1,586 2,090 26,778 C/G 5,987 7,859 3,456 1,899 4,310 1,206 3,893 1,024 547 1,759 2,039 33,979 P/W 1,136 237 139 58 336 71 481 18 67 184 97 2,824 * DIS/A -- Disabled * S/C -- Separated Children * U/C -- Unaccompanied Children * OPHN -- Orphans * N/D -- New Delivery * DTH -- Deaths IDPs LIVING IN LIBERATED AREAS S/N 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. TOWN Dikwa LGA Bama LGA Konduga LGA Lassa town Damboa LGA/ Sabon Gari POPULATION 67,042 IDPs 9,434 IDPs 13,098 IDPs 5,521 IDPs 52,363 IDPs 46 L/M 1,601 259 1,130 140 687 183 1,331 52 41 362 98 5,884 S/C 98 203 241 45 319 15 81 11 52 60 1,125 U/C 186 112 81 15 76 5 347 13 47 65 76 1,023 * C/TOTAL -- Camp Total OPHN 821 609 322 16 207 10 32 27 27 23 59 2,153 DIS/A 15 58 44 3 59 12 7 11 66 275 N/D 16 14 3 1 4 17 7 9 37 108 DTH 2 3 2 4 1 4 16 C/T 21,200 22,263 10,093 7,494 13,863 4,476 12,542 2,980 2,336 5,297 8,466 111,010 Source: Food Security Cluster (2016); Total population of IDPs in the eleven identified and functional camps in Maiduguri metropolis and liberated LGAs as at 15th November 2016. https://fscluster.org/sites/default/files/documents/total_population_of_idps_003.pdf The discussion above is aimed at justifying the research location chosen for this study. Even though Borno state can be considered as the springboard of the insurgency, the spiraling effects of the insurgency are continuously felt in different states in the region to which the movement has spread. Nonetheless, the consequences of the Boko Haram insurgency for Borno state outweigh those for its neighboring states, and the effects on Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, outweigh those in other Borno LGAs. Considering the above-mentioned factors, choosing to conduct the study in a camp at the center of Maiduguri, which still feels the greatest impacts of the insurgency and houses the highest number of displaced persons, appeared pragmatic in order to 47 understand if reintegration and intervention from the UN mean anything in the lived experiences of IDPs in this region. Conceptual Framework The thesis adopts two frameworks, namely Internationalism and a feminist perspective on human security. Internationalism. The first usage of the concept of internationalism dates back to 1877, thirteen years after the promotion of Karl Max’s International Working Man’s Association, the First International. The concept has its long and historical origin in the West, traced to Greece and Rome, as most acknowledge that Christianity was responsible for its rootedness in Western politics (Linklater, 1991). Internationalism has been defined and applied in different forms. But for the sake of this thesis, internationalism is defined as the concept that agrees that human beings “are and should be part of a broader community than that of the nation or the state” (Long, 1996, p. 49). For Hobson, “a true and strong internationalism in form or spirit would…imply the existence of powerful self-respecting nationalities which seek union on the basis of common national needs.” (Hobson, 1938 cited by Long, 1996, p. 51). Internationalism suggests the circular promotion of a peaceful and well-functioning international system that is yet filled with independent states. Thus, it debunks the notion of contradiction between national independence and international unity (Goldmann, 1994). Furthermore, Goldmann refers to internationalism as “coexistence orientated” with the objective of “peace and security through community-building [and living] at the international level” (1994, p. 4). Internationalism promotes the cancellation of the dividing separation between the domestic “good life” and the international as the “realm of conflict” 48 through the recognition that national and international mutually impact each other (Hobson & Hobden, 2002, p. 269). For this thesis, the researcher recognizes the United Nations founding mandate that seeks to promote international peace and security. Article 1(1) of the Charter of the United Nations states that the purpose of the organization amongst others is; To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace. In presenting the validity of Nigeria’s IDP reintegration as the responsibility of the UN, the researcher situated Nigeria’s IDPs as not only citizens of Nigeria but also citizens of the world, while the UN is situated as the “government of the world,” hence the usage of the concept internationalism. Feminist perspective on human security. Feminist perspectives on human security call for a reflection on the objectives of human security. The 1994 United Nations Human Development Report New Dimensions of Human Security defines human security as safety from “chronic threats as hunger, disease and repression, and… [the] protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life– whether in homes, in jobs or in communities” (UNDP, 1994, p. 23). The creation of the Commission for Human Security was also premised on the general recognition on the significance of “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear” for individuals (Commission on Human Security, 2003. p. iv). A feminist perspective speaks for the particular concern of women 49 as to what they define as fear and want. It prevents the concept of “human” in human security from being approached without attention to human differences (Hudson, 2005). This concept challenges the prevalent idea of human security from universality to individuality. For a feminist perspective, “human” is positioned within its history of race, identity, and gender. Identity and gender as a dominant factor of “human” ought to inform reconciliatory mechanisms in post-conflict communities. Therefore, identifying the individual human allows for a response that is commensurate to the needs of the human (Hoogensen & Rottem, 2004). This research, which focuses on the impact of the gendered victimization of Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, seeks to examine how internationalism is being promoted by the UN through a gender-sensitive approach. The use of a feminist perspective on human security in this work enabled the researcher to explore and also interpret the depth of gender equality and equity in internationalism–hence the UN reintegration processes for Nigeria’s female IDPs. Research Methodology This research requires methods that enable the collection of empirical information. Research methodology encourages a systemic reflection of the reason for using specific designs and methods. Primarily, research methodology identifies the research methods, activities, and techniques that will be needed for the overall research questions to be answered in a satisfactory way (Scott & Garner, 2013). A qualitative research method approach was adopted in examining the research themes for this study. Qualitative research approaches present the opportunity to assess the phenomenon under study in its natural setting while analyzing it critically (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007). Scott and Garner (2013) also posit that qualitative research provides the investigator a research method that focuses on digging deep as opposed to a very wide but not so deep digging. Qualitative research 50 is extremely useful to gain insight into problematic experiences and what the experiences mean to individuals who experience them. Qualitative methods, inclusive of other phenomenological methods, share the norm of “exploring subjective accounts of phenomena from the participants’ perspective [while] attempting to identify broad categories and common themes…[including their] engagement with participants” (Shinebourne & Adams, 2007, p. 104). This method afforded the investigator four basic means of data gathering including participating in the setting, observing directly, in-depth interviewing, and analyzing documents in the data-collection process of this research (Scott & Garner, 2013). The active involvement of participants through this method helped aid the gathering of original or primary data. A collection of techniques such as semistructured interviews, participant observation, and focus groups was applied for the collection of data in this study. Phenomenological study design. The study of experience is theoretically conceptualized as phenomenology (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009). Phenomenological approach as an inquiry method seeks to understand and describe the phenomenon under study through the lived experiences of individuals. Phenomenology allows an investigator access into the lifeworld of individuals in order to understand the meaning of their experiences. This approach draws largely upon the involvements of the research participants and their experiences (Creswell, 2014). Phenomenology has, however, morphed from being a research method largely adopted by qualitative researchers to a dominant philosophy (Dowling, 2007). For this study, an interpretative phenomenological approach was integral in understanding from a gendered perspective the interventions that have been directed and received by IDPs in northeastern Nigeria from the UN. Smith, Flowers, and Larkin (2009), noting the founding principle of phenomenology as described by Husserl, said he was interested in finding a means by which a person might come to accurately 51 know their “own” experience of a phenomenon, which would be done with sufficient attention and depth to make them recognize the “essential” qualities of that experience. For Husserl, phenomenological inquiry emphasizes the lived experiences in the “consciousness” of the individual. Therefore, how the UN promotes internationalism in this region can be best understood through the lived experiences of the recipients. The phenomenological approach that was adopted in this study is interpretative phenomenology. Although this approach is known to have its origin in psychology, it has, however, transitioned into disciplines in human, social and health sciences as a qualitative inquiry method. One key value of this investigative method is that, while providing the researcher with a rich source of data, it also helps in to gaining deeper meaning and comprehension of the lived experience of participants (Smith et al., 2009). The interpretative phenomenological approach allows for more of the respondents’ perspectives and a limited influence of the researcher on the phenomenon under study (Creswell, 2014). Adopting a qualitative interviewing method has primacy amongst others for adequate understanding of a phenomenological study (Brinkmann, 2013). The interpretative approach opines that human beings’ account of their experiences will reflect their attempt to make sense out of their experiences. It also admits that the researcher’s entrance into participants’ experiences is largely dependent on the access given by participants through what is told the researcher (Smith et al., 2009). My adaptation of this method enabled me to allow participants to give their experiential accounts in their own words, while I also identified themes where they shared common experiences. As urged by Husserl, the father of phenomenology, interpretative phenomenology therefore allowed me to follow the lead of the themes and experiences described by participants rather than attempting to fix or predefine the experiences (Smith et al., 2009). 52 Methods Qualitative interviewing and observation. In-depth interviewing was adopted in this study as a data-collection method. Edwards and Hollands (2013) stated that the use of interviews as a data-collection tool in qualitative research is often referred to as “gathering” of data because the material is treated as a document on a phenomenon independent of the interviewee. An interview goes beyond a spontaneous exchange of views through series of questions and answers, becoming a purposeful and carefully directed questioning and listening initiative aimed at gathering tested knowledge regardless of the structure chosen by the interviewer. Qualitative interviewing is therefore not a dialogue between “equal partners” because the interviewer not only purposefully introduces the topic, but also critically follows up on the responses given by the subjects in order to achieve adequate understanding of the phenomenon (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, p.3). In spite of the interviewer’s input and how conversation is now conceptualized as interviewing, interviewing is still regarded as a rich and indispensable source of knowing and understanding the personal and social aspects of our lives (Brinkmann, 2013). Phenomenological interviewing does not follow steps of rigid methods, but rather rests on the practical skills and personal judgement of the interviewer with the aim of gathering quality data through the strength and value of the knowledge produced (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). While unstructured interviewing method has primacy in phenomenologically designed research, opting for a semi-structured interviewing method helped to streamline the lived experiences and phenomenology of this study on the aspects specific to the research question. Adopting the faceto-face interviewing method for this study permitted the application of the interpretative phenomenological design of this study; that is, it encouraged participants to explore and talk about their uniquely lived experience on the subject under study without interruption. 53 Concurrently, observation was exploited as a primary source of data in this study. Observational strategies in qualitative research stands as a remarkable tool for documenting facial expressions and unspoken thoughts during an interview session. Observations grant the researcher access into other aspect of participants’ activities that might not have been structured into interview questions (Liamputtong, 2011). Observational notes serve as a primary source of data to researchers. Particularly in this study, this approach gave the research deeper insight into participants’ words and their environment. Photographs were taken to document the research process and to complement the observational notes. Two photographs appear in this thesis. Observations helped the researcher to have full understanding of what participants were experiencing/conveying. The approach also served as a tool for data triangulation as a measure of validity for the study. Focus-group discussion. Focus-group discussion was relied upon as a method to gather primary data in this study. Fundamentally, a focus group is defined as an informal discussion among a group of selected individuals about a particular topic. While this methodology is sometimes referred to as group interview, focus-group interview, or a group depth interview, it is however a conversation structured in a collective way with either a small or large group (Liamputtong, 2011). Focus-group interviews often involve a group of six to eight people but can be flexible depending on the purpose of the study. Participants are selected to have similar experience of or background on the phenomenon under study. The purpose of focus groups is to gather a range of perspectives on a research topic while gaining a fulsome understanding of the issue from the participants themselves. The focus-group questioning method was chosen because it affords the researcher the opportunity to gather much data with different perspectives within a single sitting (Hennink, 2014). Focus groups’ discussions were intended to track the consistency 54 of the themes that emerged from individual-based (IDP and official) interviews in order to make informed recommendations where needed. Recruitment design and process. This research that examines from a gendered perspective the reintegration experiences of IDPs in northeastern Nigeria was aimed at including the shared experiences of participants, both IDPs and officials. While most original data were to be gathered within the Teachers’ Village Camp, Maiduguri, Borno state, northeastern Nigeria, it was understood that some officials’ data would have to be collected at other locations most convenient for them. The research design anticipated 56 participants. For in-depth interviews, 12 IDPs were sought: six females, three girls and three women; and six males; three boys and three men. The recruitment age was set between the ages of 18 and 50. The study was designed to include additional interviews with 12 organizational officials (six females and six males) who interface with IDPs. Four focus-group discussions were also structured into the study, to include 32 participants (eight girls, eight boys, eight women and eight men) who were new to the study and not part of the in-depth interviews. This study could also not be completed without the service of a research assistant/interpreter, due to the large number of languages in Nigeria. Therefore, the service of a research assistant/translator was required throughout the period of the fieldwork in this region where the Hausa language is predominant. The study originally anticipated the use of gatekeepers–camp administration–to identify potential IDP participants. On the first day of our arrival to the research site, the officials who “welcomed” us tried to make our access to IDPs a little difficult, as they wanted to control the whole interview process and asked to provide participants for us. However, because of the sensitivity of the study, officials’ body language, and some ethical considerations, I refused this 55 offer. Also, because I did not trust the process of that offer as well as the reliability of the information I would be given, I opted to contact my participants myself, with the help of my research assistant who interpreted from English to Hausa language as I determined the suitability of participants for recruitment. The size of the camp and numbers of prospective IDP participants, however, made this process a little tedious, because we (researcher and research assistant) wanted the participant selection to be from all the areas of the camp. Although this process was difficult to achieve because of the size of the camp and numbers of IDPs, it was however possible because all IDP participants were located within the camp. This approach was also made possible because of the approval received from the federal government agency, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) (see Appendix A), to conduct this study in the Teachers’ Village Camp. The researcher and the assistant were granted full access to the camp and the people. The researcher did not also need to use a snowball-sampling recruitment process, because we realized that my approval letter from NEMA gave us all the access we could ever need in the camp, provided we did not violate the ethical boundaries of the study (see Appendix A). Additionally, because of the warm gestures received from most IDP participants whenever we approached them, asking to interview them was only a step away. IDP participants were therefore recruited by the researcher and assistant, who spoke to IDPs, informed them about the study, and asked if they would want to be a part of it. While the officials I encountered on the first day of the fieldwork were not so welcoming as the IDPs and other officials I met subsequently who ended up being a part of the study, I was able to proceed past them by not requesting any sort of assistance from them. Subsequently, I was able to access and recruit willing officials by walking into the various organizational offices present in the camp. 56 Focus-group participants were equally approached and recruited the way individual interview participants were selected. The recruitment process was such that the participants were encountered seated together chatting. Coincidentally, their ages fit into the particular group required. All focus-group discussions were conducted the same day participants were met, except for the girls’ focus group, which was scheduled for a different day, time, and venue after the initial day we met them. One of the girls offered that the discussion be held in her house, and others agreed as they deemed it more convenient and discreet. While this research adopted a gendered perspective in its analysis, equal numbers of male and female participants were chosen in order to be able to identify and fully examine gendered variations in the phenomenon under study, since the researcher was keen on understanding where the line is drawn between general, sex-specific, and gendered challenges. Sample. In selecting the appropriate participants for this study, a convenience sampling technique (Creswell, 2014) was adopted. While most of the participants targeted were located in the Teachers’ Village Camp in Maiduguri, and Maiduguri was chosen because the source of the crisis has its roots in Borno state, some official participants were interviewed in their offices as they deemed more appropriate and convenient. In order to have a more rounded understanding of the phenomenon, IDP participants were selected in consideration of sex and age group. Although the recruitment selection age was between 18 and 50, the sampling selection age was between 18 and 60. Unfortunately, even though the researcher encountered a number of individuals below the age of 18 who showed interest in participating in the study, the researcher could not ignore this factor because of its ethical considerations as these people were not yet considered adults legally. However, the researcher chose to slightly extend the upper age range for several reasons: first, because some significant participants with wealth of information were above 57 50; second, because the division at 50 was arbitrarily chosen and does not reflect significant differences; and third, because the decision to extend the age range upward, unlike an extension to those below 18, still meant that only adults competent to give consent were interviewed . While the recruitment process was aimed at including 56 participants with equal numbers of males and females, the sample was different because of participant availability and eventual data saturation. This study sample comprised 52 participants, 25 male and 27 female. These included 12 IDPs and 12 official participants selected for individual interviews, and 28 IDP participants in four focus-group discussions. Of the 12 IDPs interviewed, three were girls between the ages of 18 and 25 years old, three were women between 26 and 60 years old, three were boys between 18 and 25 years old, and three were men between 26 and 60 years old. Of the 12 officials interviewed, seven were males and five were females. The official selection was without age disparity, but the initial goal was for the number of males and females to be even. The researcher had to work with the availability of officials, which inevitably helped to cover a variety of organizational officials. The only requirement adopted in the officials’ recruitment process was whether they had worked with the IDPs long enough to know enough about them and the assistance they receive, and their understanding of the phenomenon under study. This requirement was however adopted in the field by the researcher in order to enrich the data collected, because officials’ interviews were aimed at verifying and/or to examine differences in participants’ perspectives. The shortest duration of interviewed officials’ involvements with IDPs was seven months. Additionally, four focus-group discussions were facilitated including eight boys, eight girls, eight women, and four men. These four were also recruited from their normal sitting and chatting setting like others. Although the initial goal was to also have eight men, considering the 58 lack of saturation in official-based data and the already-reached saturation in the IDP-based data, the remaining small size of this group was therefore a lesser concern, while reaching for a fuller set of official-based data became the priority at the time, as discussed below. Attempting to select the same number of male and female participants helped the researcher to compare and contrast experiences and themes and if the themes were general or gendered so as to have a more comprehensive understanding suitable to make informed analysis, discussion, and recommendation. Data collection process. The primary mode for the collection of data from the participants of this study was qualitative interviewing. Although the phenomenological design of the study encourages an unstructured method of interviewing, a semi-structured interviewing method adopted in this study allowed an interactional exchange of dialogue between participants and investigator while maintaining a topic or theme-centered focus (Edwards & Holland, 2013). Questions were directed at participants orally and with the physical presence of the researcher and research assistant/interpreter. Participants were afforded the option of speaking in either Hausa or English. For participants who could not speak the English language, questions were directed through the research assistant/interpreter in the Hausa language. Participants were asked followup questions where and when needed. While the individual interviewing method provided the researcher an avenue to gather an original and rich set of data within a limited time of 30 minutes to one hour, it also proved to be a productive tool in ensuring the privacy of participants. Although about 90% of participants were not contacted days prior to their interviews, participants were however enlightened on the focus, importance, and possible outcome of the research. Individuals who had showed interest to be a part of the study upon our generic opening statements were the ones engaged with the interview sessions about the study. Every participant’s 59 approval was received verbally or in writing before the commencement of each interview and focus-group discussion (see detailed description of this process in ethical consideration section below). Because this study had a variety of participants–IDPs and officials--the settings of the interviews and questioning were different, and observation suggested that each participant be treated differently. Official participants could be considered more organized than IDPs because officials have more structured lives, which gave a professional aura to the interviewing setting. Even amongst IDPs, however, some appeared more privileged than others. Therefore, interviews had to take place in different settings such as official offices and IDP homes, with unique sensitivity to each individual’s state. The in-camp interviews were conducted in this order; individual IDPs, officials, and finally focus groups. Official interviews at other venues were conducted after this process. Having conducted individual interviews prior to focus groups, the researcher was able to engage with the data analysis immediately, identifying consistent themes that emerged from the individual interviews as the focus groups’ data were applied as a measure of validity for the initially gathered data. Not only was the focus group helpful as a tool for validity through data triangulation, some sessions also incorporated providing recommendatory solutions to the problems already highlighted. This study’s focus groups were moderated by the researcher and research assistant, while the researcher took on the additional task of observation during the sessions. The in-person observation of body language, facial expressions, and response pattern added richness and understanding to the data collected. Observations noted by the researcher during the fieldwork were written in field journal and afterwards collated and coded with conversational data and categorized into patterned themes. Focus-group participants were also systematically taken through the ethical procedure of the study as discussed below. 60 Of the 52 participants of this study, only three of the participants were interviewed in their offices; the remaining 49 were interviewed within the Teachers’ Village Camp in Maiduguri, as was the original intention and design of the study. After interviewing 12 IDPs and nine officials and conducting focus-group discussions with 28 IDPs, the researcher felt that data saturation had been reached in the IDP-based data. Therefore, the researcher chose to complete the official-based interviews with three more participants rather than conducting the men-IDP focus-group discussion. The researcher therefore reached out to the prospective participants for the completion of official-based interviews through the contact initially received from NEMA. The researcher connected with these people. They fixed a date and time for the researcher to meet with them in order to conduct the interviews at their convenient locations. Ethical Considerations and Process Scott and Garner (2013) define ethical consideration as the rules of following proper conduct in research. Ethical consideration is an integral part of a study with “human subjects” to ensure that participants are fully aware of what they are consenting to be a part of. This study is deemed as a study with human subjects because it focuses on gleaning the lived experiences of humans and the meaning of those experiences to them. The ethical procedures described below are in two forms; the process of ethical approval to gain access into the research field, as well as the process of ethical consideration with participants during the fieldwork process. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Board (REB) at UNBC (see Appendix C). Additionally, the researcher obtained approval to gain access into the terrain of participants from the federal agency in charge of IDPs in Nigeria, NEMA (see Appendix A). Prior to the commencement of the fieldwork, the research assistant/interpreter also agreed to keeping 61 the confidentiality of participants by signing a confidentiality form provided by the UNBC REB (see Appendix D). While in the field, the researcher took time to explain to individuals who showed interest to participate in the study the reason and need for the study, because participants’ understanding of the purpose of the study is a core part of qualitative research. All questions regarding their participation in the study were carefully clarified one after the other. The researcher encouraged questions concerning their participation in the study as well the importance of their well-being throughout their participation in the study. An information letter and consent form as required by the REB of UNBC was provided to participants as an evidence of their informed consent (see Appendix F). Participants signed the provided form as an evidence of their consent. Some female participants who could not give their consent by signing with a pen had the option to use a thumbprint. Participants were equally informed about the importance of stopping the interview process or withdrawing from the whole study for any reason. The notion of informed consent from participant was not approached as just a document to be signed, but as the principle and process grounded primarily on participants’ autonomy, and secondarily on their generous willingness to give information without any form of coercion (Marzano, 2012; Scott & Garner, 2013). The researcher therefore took the liberty to create maximum assurance of participants’ capability to participate in the study. The importance of using a tape recorder and sometimes a camera was also explained to all participants for documentation purposes. The confidentiality of participants’ identities was assured by the research and assistant researcher/interpreter. Although original data were received with participants’ real names, their confidentiality was equally assured as the researcher created a pseudonym for everyone cited in the thesis. Focus-group participants were encouraged to keep 62 discussions and confidentiality of other group members private. They were also encouraged not to say things or share experiences they might regret or not want others to hear during the discussion, since the research team could not promise confidentiality in group discussions. While a participant honorarium in the form of cash was structured into the fieldwork process, participants were not offered incentives throughout the data-collection process both to secure the reliability and credibility of the data and for the ethical reason of preventing buying the data (Creswell, 2014). In addition, I sought to avoid a rowdy interview setting should word get out about the incentives. Participants were informed that the researcher and the assistant were not there to solve their financial problems or provide financial support to them. Participants were only informed of the proposed benefits of the study to them, which include that their shared experience may be beneficial in allowing humanitarian actors in policy and/or groundwork, particularly the UN, to be informed of IDPs' needs; in addition, the impact of this knowledge may enhance the aid they receive from stakeholders, targeting such aid at their specific needs regardless of gender. However, upon the completion of the field data-collection process, on a neutral day, participants were given a token of appreciation. Field Research Experiences The data-collection process of this study took place between September 3 and October 12, 2018. Prior to the commencement of the data-collection process of this study, the researcher had contacted several influential people and organizations whose approval helped the facilitation and successful completion of the study. Out of the researcher’s many contacts, two of them were eventually significant in the actual fieldwork process. As mentioned earlier, the researcher applied for and received approval from NEMA, the federal body in charge of displaced persons in Nigeria. 63 Also, prior to the fieldwork, the researcher had earlier contacted an influential Christian ministry in Kaduna state–Chris Delvan Gwamna Ministries–which assisted the researcher to locate a research assistant suitable for the study, as well as agreeing to serve as the researcher and assistant's emergency contact during the fieldwork (see Appendix E). The assistant, a business administration university graduate who is also a native of Maiduguri, was well acquainted with the location as well as the predominant language spoken in the region, Hausa. Upon the completion of the data collection in Maiduguri on September 20, 2018, the researcher and the assistant made plans to travel to the emergency contact’s ministry location at 17B, Pan-avenue, Near 7up Factory, Kakuri Industrial Layout in Kaduna State. The research team was at this location between September 29 and October 12, 2018. Although the process of transcription had begun in Maiduguri, most interviews were transcribed at the ministry location in an office provided to the researcher and assistant by the ministry. Limitations of fieldwork and data collection. Although the researcher faced some challenges, such as a hectic recruitment process considering the size of the camp, and an unhealthy environment which resulted in the researcher's being ill during the fieldwork, these limitations were overcome. The researcher did not face the insider-outsider limitation as was feared initially. This was made possible because most participants, especially IDP participants, were warm and welcoming. However, a limitation that can be noted here is the number of people selected for sampling in this study. While access granted would have permitted more participants, the researcher and assistant were able to speak to only 52 participants in total because of the nature of the qualitative research orientation, which allows smaller pools of participants so as to acquire indepth and rich data (Creswell, 2014). In addition to the above limitation, only one camp was visited for data collection. There are about 50 IDP camps in Borno state (Orodata, 2016); however, I 64 selected one of the camps in the state. The safety of the researcher while in the region was also considered while the study was being designed, because suicide attacks are still in place in the state. Another problem encountered in the field was the age limitation. The structure of this research did not make room for participants below 18 years of age. Therefore, so many people who showed interest in this study and were younger than the eligible age could not participate in the study. This situation actually made the younger age participants’ selection a little more challenging, because we could not begin conversing with individuals by asking them their age; we had to begin by giving a general idea of who we are and what we were hoping to achieve. Although the researcher’s focus was to recruit participants from every areas of the camp, the recruitment of focus-group participants varied slightly, as participants were found already seated in the same location. While this may be an unusual way to build a focus group and may have had some effects on the data collected, the groups were quite forthcoming because they already knew each other and were comfortable sharing in one another’s presence. Even though individually, some focus-group members might have been from the same axis within the camp, we attempted to make up for this by making sure the four groups were chosen from different areas within the camp. Because of the limited time for the fieldwork, while over half of the participants were not contacted days before the interview in order to give lengthy decision-making time, no participant was coerced into the study. All participants’ choice to be a part of the study was solely made by them even though the time was limited. Language disparity was another barrier faced in the field. Some officials opted to be interviewed in English even though they speak the Hausa language more fluently. I and my research assistant believed that the data might have been richer and fuller if some interviews were 65 conducted in Hausa and Kanuri languages. Also, my inability to interview participants in Hausa and Kanuri (the languages of the IDPs) forced me to rely on my assistant’s interpretation and transcription of the data. This reliance may affect data credibility and reflexibility (van Manen, 2014). However, I attempted to maximize data credibility by participating in a two-stage translation/transcription with the research assistant. In the first stage, the research assistant listened to the audiorecording in Hausa and transcribed directly in English. In the second stage, the research assistant listened to the audiorecording in Hausa and translated orally while I checked and edited the transcript. In this way, the interviews were translated twice for the most reliable translation possible. A surprising challenge of the fieldwork process was the disposition of fear that some officials took after seeing our federal approval to conduct the study. These officials seemed afraid of being questioned once they saw our approval letter, and they opted not to be a part of the study. Subsequent officials who became part of the study speculated that the approval letter must have scared others away because they thought we were government spies and not researchers. Interviewed officials were also careful of not implicating themselves or their jobs; as a result, data received from officials might have been less reliable. Data Analysis Data analysis is an integral part of any given research or study. Qualitative research often yields a large sum of data; therefore, qualitative researchers are usually left with the task to make meaning out of their many pages of interviews. The data-analysis process aims at helping the researcher to reduce the gathered data to manageability while focusing on the goal of the study and getting rid of irrelevance (Luker, 2010). Furthermore, Kvale and Brinkmann (2009) stated that 66 although a qualitative researcher might be left with thousands of interview transcripts ready to be analyzed after data collection, the actual process of analysis begins during the data collection. Interview questions are often informed by the intended objectives and goal of the study, as is data analysis. Interview analysis is the interweave between the primary data gotten from participants and the final report given by the researcher. Analysis means separation into smaller parts and elements (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). For the purpose of this study, both speech and non-verbal gestures of participants were recorded by the researcher in field notes. Participant and environmental observations noted by the researcher were documented in field notes and were analyzed with the primary data. Adopting the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach gave the researcher insight to explore from a gendered perspective the similarities and specificity of displaced males’ and females’ experiences (Smith, et. al, 2009). As stated by Luker (2010), the immediate task of a researcher with raw data is to manage the data while aiming at making meaning of it. Because the data analysis process begins from the first day of interviewing (Luker, 2010), the initial step of data analysis for this study started in Maiduguri as recorded interviews were played over and over by the researcher and the assistant to check the quality and sound of the recordings. Although the transcription process began concurrently with the interviews, much of it could not be done while interviews were being conducted because of the hectic pace of the interview process. However, the researcher and research assistant endeavored to become familiar with the oral data by listening daily to every interview we collected as they were collected. IDPs' participant responses were translated from Hausa to English with the help of the research assistant. Although the transcription process began in Maiduguri, most of the interviews were transcribed in Kaduna. The interviews in English were 67 single-handedly transcribed by the researcher. English interviews were transcribed precisely in the words of participants, while Hausa interviews were transcribed according to the research assistant/translator’s translations as described above. All transcribed data were typed in Microsoft Word documents and stored in the researcher’s computers with passwords. I also retrieved the transcribed Hausa data from my research assistant to ensure their safety and secured storage. All the supplies used during this process were single-handedly owned by the researcher. Upon return to Canada, the researcher read and reread transcripts for the identification of possible patterns and coding categories. Transcripts of interviews were analyzed manually and individually through a systematic qualitative approach. Analysis began through a four-cycle coding process (Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, 2014). In the first-cycle coding process, I assigned codes to portions of data from interview transcripts and my field journal –where I had noted my field observations–while keeping a coding memo as I generated open codes in my first-cycle coding process and axial coding in the second cycle. Participant and environmental observations noted in field notes were typed and coded with verbal data transcripts. This process was completed using both the Microsoft Word document with the comment icon and a number of highlighters on hard-copy documents. The first-cycle coding process generated about 148 codes in total. The second-cycle coding process was adopted to generate a more encompassing category for the grouping of the codes. This process was also completed using the Microsoft Word document to organize and manage the data (Creswell, 2014). This process generated about seven categories with 14 sub-categories (see Appendix H). The third-cycle process was initiated to arrive at themes and patterns drawn from the categories. A fourth-cycle coding process was also needed to carefully scrutinize the codes and link them to the gender and age-group of the participant in 68 question. This process helped to distinguish where gendered challenges, perspectives, or solutions were predominant and who was saying what. Although transcripts were coded individually, throughout the coding and analysis process, the researcher paid keen attention to the gendered essence of the study. Themes common to a particular age group and cross-groups also emerged during the coding process. Themes were depended on to answer the research questions. Combining IDPs and officials’ interviews, observations, and focus groups’ discussions not only proved to be a beneficial method of data triangulation as a measure of validity and credibility, often required in interpretative phenomenology research design (Creswell, 2014; van Manen, 2014), but also aided the comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon under study. Summary This chapter elucidates the selected conceptual framework and methodology and design applied in this study. Detailed descriptions of the research procedures, participant selection, ethical consideration, and data collection and analysis process were discussed in this chapter. 69 Chapter Four: Findings and Results Introduction This chapter discusses the findings of the analyzed data collected from the study participants. This phenomenological research examined from a gendered perspective how the United Nations promotes the concept of internationalism through their subsistence and reintegrative interventions for IDPs in the north-east region of Nigeria. Investigating this phenomenon gave insights into understanding what reintegration means to participants, especially from a gendered view, and how interventions tended towards them can be accurately designed to achieve effective IDP reintegration. The three major themes that emerged are: The general and gender-specific challenges of participants; internationalism and UN interventions for Nigerian IDPs; and UN interventions; gender blind. The themes are analyzed to attempt to answer the study’s research questions. Portion of the participants’ data are cited as part of the context of discussion, as this will provide clarity and deep understanding of the themes (Creswell, 2014). General and Gender-Specific Challenges of Participants The challenges identified by participants were categorized under two major themes: subsistence challenges and reintegration challenges. The sub-themes that emerged under subsistence challenges include general challenges, sex-specific challenges, and gendered challenges. While the reintegration challenges identified by participants only speak of reintegration challenge in a generic form, the gendered aspect of reintegration will be discussed in the later part of this chapter. The general themes that emerged from what they all described as subsistence challenges are: the loss of their pre-insurgency independence and normalcy; lack of 70 and/or insufficient access to basic human needs; health care challenges; and concerns of continuous dependence on the government. Subsequent themes concerning sex-specific challenges also included inaccessibility to feminine hygiene materials as well as deficiency in menstrual health care, and pregnant and nursing mothers’ hurdles. The gendered challenges analyzed from the data collected from participants are: camp leaders’ corruption, trauma, and the unsatisfactory educational system for boys and girls who attended schools prior to coming to the camp. On the other hand, reintegration challenges highlighted by participants are the influences of external actors in the reintegration of IDPs. Subsistence challenges General challenges. One major challenge that was noted by most participants was the imbalance between the IDPs’ pre-insurgency life and post-insurgency life, despite the representation of local and international organizations, government, and humanitarian actors. IDPs expressed a sense of loss of their pre-insurgency independence and normalcy. All participants reflected upon and recalled a good memory of their pre-insurgency life. They all described the preinsurgency era as better than their current post-insurgency lived experiences. Although what a satisfactory pre-insurgency era meant differs for each individual, they still contrasted a positive pre-insurgency era with what they now have to live by and with. Their comparison and the identification of their present era as problematic and challenging hinged on the alteration of their former access to education (Islamic and/or western); family togetherness; their unhindered independence through source of livelihood and businesses; and their access to the ownership of properties for the older IDP participants. They further made remarkable comments on the 71 challenges of a dysfunctional health care system, concerns of dependence on government and lack of livelihood, as well as insufficient access to basic human needs (food and non-food items). While most participants who had any form of education had previously attended Islamic schools more than western education, both Islamic school and western education were generally referred to as education by the study participants. However, they differentiated the type of education they were referring to. Those who had access to western education and Islamic education also mentioned their regret that the access they had to either of these two had been annulled. Parents also spoke of their children’s education. A young high-school-graduate woman whose seven-year-old daughter had just grown into the schooling age before they got displaced and moved to live in the camp expressed her ordeal by saying: If I were in my house my kids would be going to school; this is my daughter [pointing at her daughter]. If we were in our house, she would be schooling. I have a seven-year-old girl that is not schooling. The school in here [in the camp] is just a figurehead because they are not teaching anything. I also have a five-year-old child that needs special attention–he can’t walk– I wish life was better here; we could have looked for how to help him. (Magaina) An eighteen-year-old girl who had been attending Islamic school before the conflict explained her current academic situation, saying: I cannot afford going to school now. I used to go to Islamia [Islamic school] before the conflict but now, I cannot afford Islamia talk less of western education... the 72 one [western education school] in the camp is for children and there is no avenue for any sort of education for people of my age. (Alheri) The togetherness and oneness among participants’ families is a pre-insurgency normalcy that is described to have been altered by the insurgency and living in the teachers’ camp. While some participants have had a firsthand experience of losing their loved ones during the insurgency, participants who still have some or all of their family members living together also quake at the new atmosphere that hovers around their family. Most participants described the family living condition prior to the insurgence as “living normal lives happily” and “living well and… [with] peace of mind”. “All I knew before the crisis was the picture of a perfect home and peaceful living of seeing a man and his wives and children happy with their needs met. I also have three wives and 23 children,” was the statement made by Bakaka, who lost three of his daughters to Boko Haram abduction. “Life has not been the same… we are now in a situation that we have never experienced before,” he added, as he explained the discomfort of their new life. Apparently, most participants pride themselves on their pre-insurgency source of livelihood and the satisfaction gotten therein. To participants, their pre-Boko Haram source of livelihood continues to be a yardstick of measurement and comparison to what they have now. The strength of their pre-insurgency source of livelihood ranged from their independent access to petty trading, labor jobs, skill acquisition, small-scale business, cattle rearing, fishing, farming, and so on. Of all the responses gotten from participants who described IDPs’ pre-insurgency livelihood, the majority were from older men and boys, while a few came from women and some officials whose response also attested to IDPs’ loss of livelihood as a challenge of the post-insurgency era. 73 These responses claimed that IDPs pre-insurgency livelihood was in a satisfactory state where they could cater for most of their needs by themselves. Although the loss of livelihood appeared a general issue for the survival of all, a gendered comparison of the responses listed above suggests that men and boys were particularly concerned with loss of livelihood. Even though the two participants whose words appear below are among the very few who have a source of livelihood while in the camp, they still pride themselves on their former source of livelihood: Before now, we didn't even know that the government assists people till the insurgency that led that to our coming down here to the camp. I was farming [millet, maize, beans] and fishing during the day, then I returned to continue to work by transporting people on motorcycles and also worked with NNPC crude searchers as field surveyor. It is a joint venture with IDSL (Integrated Data Service Limited) and Chinese National Petroleum Company. (Zanna) I was…[a leader in] Kukawa local government area. My area is big with lots of water, so we do lots of fishing, cattle rearing, and farming. Our biggest trade is fishing, farming and cattle rearing. We were living in peace and there was no problem at all; all we wanted from the government was good hospitals and drugs. Before this crisis we never knew that the government or any NGO assist people in the way we are exposed to now. Experiencing the crisis made us to be at the mercy of these NGOs. All we knew the government could do for people was to build hospitals and boreholes [drinking water systems]. (Bakaka) 74 A common theme that often followed my IDP participants’ response to their prior source of livelihood was the loss of their properties. They demonstrated that this meant a lot to them as it was a form of access to an easy and better life to some of them. Some participants lived in their own built homes and singlehandedly owned their properties as a means of livelihood, while some owned the places they conducted their businesses in and from. From the findings made in the study, although almost all IDP participants endured some sort of loss of property. Some participants were more disturbed than others, depending on their age range and gender, which suggests that it was not just the loss of an owned property to them, but a means of livelihood to which some also attached their future and dreams. Below are the accounts of how the loss of property is a challenge to a young married woman who now has to fend for her family with three children; a single young boy; and an older man respectively. My husband was a driver and he was able to cater for us with his job and we were living in our own house before the BH attack…but his source of income [car] was taken away by the conflict… Although I work with CMAM [Community Management of Acute Malnutrition] even as an IDP, the wages I am being paid is not enough to keep the family running. All I do with [my wages] is to buy charcoal and oil to cook our food… I need my husband to get a job. If he has something doing, I don’t need anything again. (Maigana) I learned tailoring early enough and had a very big shop of my own where I sold all sorts of things like provisions, tailoring things, etc. I am still single, and before the insurgency I had an intention of getting married early, but this conflict has spoiled 75 the whole plan… Now, we have to depend on the government and other NGOs for shelter and our daily bread because my source of livelihood got destroyed during the conflict. (Maina) I was comfortable and living my normal life in my city with my people. I had all I needed at that time before the crisis started. I wasn’t a wretched man because I was working, I had my own house, my one wife and two children. I was farming and transporting people on my motorcycle…[but] We left our homes, not voluntarily; we were forced to leave without taking anything. The cloth I was wearing that day was the only thing I took out of my house and there's no hope of going back soon. (Mustapha) Although the issue highlighted above explained the interwoven nature of IDPs’ loss of property and their loss of livelihood, the response of the above woman, like many others, suggests that lack of livelihood, while it is a general problem, is a particular challenge for men as it hinders them from providing for the family. Contrarily, women are more bothered with taking care of the home and feeding the family, which makes insufficiency of food in the camp more of the women’s problem, even though everyone is affected. However, men do note the absence of food in the context of overall insufficiency of the camp, as in these words from Abbagana: [O]ne of the major problems in this camp is insufficiency of food. Although we are being assisted with some food stuff, it is usually not enough to carry us for the whole month… Another problem is lack of mattresses; if you go to our rooms some 76 of us manage to have ordinary mats while for others just nylon [plastic bags]/leather is what they spread on the floor. Data gathered from both IDP and official participants confirmed that IDPs are challenged with insufficiency of basic human needs such as food and non-food items like mattresses, mosquito nets, clothes, detergents, blankets, and so on, while some do not have access at all to these limited resources. I also observed that the challenge of insufficient and inconsistent food is one subject that cut across participants’ age and sex. They spoke about it with much emphasis, and as an issue that has a strong impact on every other area of their lives, which was also confirmed by official participants. They linked their feeding to their survival, not only so, but to other areas of their lives like education, feminine hygiene, even the dignity of being able to head a home as discussed in the next paragraph. Being welcomed into their “homes” to conduct some of these interviews, I also observed that all they have is a building that is literally empty on the inside. Some people sleep on mats, while some do not even have mats at all. The unavailability of some cooking ingredients as well as non-food items, which bothers women, has also over time contributed to IDPs’ habit of selling part of the food they get, since they cannot survive only on raw and uncooked food: They used to give us rice before but not again. Now, they only share two [bags of] beans and two [bags of] corn of about 25kg each for a household of 12 or 13 people. These foods finish in two weeks and sometimes we have to sell some of the food in order to make up for other cooking ingredients and other food we don’t receive. [Foods are shared] rarely once in a month! Most times once in 40 days or 50 days. (Maigana) 77 Figure 6. A back-view photo of IDPs taking foods out of the camp. Source: The author. The image above shows IDPs taking some food out of the camp, presumably to the market for sale in order to meet other feeding and/or non-food needs. The interesting observation from this photo is that, out of the eight people who evidently have food sacks on their head, seven of them are females. Although insufficient feeding is a major concern for all IDPs, the image above supports the assertion that women are more bothered about insufficient food supplies because they are also concerned with the responsibility of feeding their household, as men are with working to provide those foods. 78 Even though all official participants demonstrated that livelihood support is very important for the longevity of IDPs’ reintegration interventions, a few contrarily suggested that IDPs are comfortable with depending on humanitarian actors. However, IDP participants showed displeasure in their dependence on government. This displeasure was evident mostly in young boy participants who are concerned about being idle seeing that they can achieve so much with their strength; men participants who want to head their homes rightly; and women participants who are concerned with feeding their children. The little mention of lack of livelihood among young girls suggest that they are either faced with a different kind of challenge or often rely on their parents or husbands. Although some participants only made mention of their lack of livelihood and dependence on government as a source of distress, others demonstrated that they needed this dependency fixed. Below are the respective voices of participants from the group of boys, men, and women who had acknowledged the challenge of lack of livelihood and how it affects them. Just the way you see us sitting down here, this is how at times we sit from morning till night waiting for 40 days when food will be redistributed to us; this is because we don’t have any job to do and no one is ready to help us secure one. (Iliya) My only problem is the issue of food not being sufficient and lack of a job to do. As you can see in this camp we stay together with our families and relatives and can’t get back to our respective homes….We the men cannot even head our families because of lack of independence as we don’t have jobs to do to earn money to take care of our home. A man must be able to fend for his family but that is not our case 79 because both we and our wives have to wait till NEMA brings us food once in a month. I am not happy about this at all. (Kyari) We should not always wait for the government to feed us; we need to be able to fend for ourselves. We were people who had a life before; we didn’t even know that the government helps people like this. Whatever can be done to our complaints should please be attended to by the people in power. This is not a good life for anyone. (Yabawa) Of the 11 participants who touched on the subject of the healthcare system, only two stated that the healthcare system is satisfactory, while the remaining nine (including responses from seven IDPs and two officials) declared healthcare unsatisfactory. It is important to note here that the dissatisfaction demonstrated by participants concerning the healthcare system does not relate to the camp doctors and/or clinicians who attend to them. Rather, the concern speaks to the supplies available at the camp clinic. Insufficient drugs, lack of ambulance, and other deficits detrimental to a functional healthcare facility are the major concerns of participants about the camp clinic. IDPs are often referred to the government hospitals outside camp when their health cases cannot be treated in camp. An IDP who falls sick to the point of needing an intravenous fluid in the camp clinic will have to buy the IV apparatus that would be used on him or her. While IDP participants mentioned that the camp clinic almost always does not have important drugs and that they (IDPs) are often treated unfairly whenever they get referred to the government hospitals, an official also confirmed that relatives of severely ill patients are usually asked to get the means of transporting 80 their patients to the government hospital because the camp clinic lacks an ambulance and the government hospitals are unwilling to release theirs. It has been said that the IDPs have free access to medical health care, but when they go to the hospital [government hospital] they still have to buy some drugs from their personal money; at times they have to come down to the camp for drugs and it is possible the camp clinic doesn’t have those same drugs. Now the question is: where are they [IDPs] to get the money for drugs from? These people you see are IDPs; some of them do not do any work/job but only depend on the government to even feed. Not only that, these IDPs don’t get proper care and attention at the government hospital. (Karagama) Although the above discussed challenges encountered by IDPs are somewhat general and common to all, inclusive of these general challenges are some sex-specific challenges that are typically more problematic in this particular situation for the females. Sex-specific subsistence challenges. To some extent, they [women and girls] are trying and doing their best to keep neat…but a young lady is supposed to have soap, cream, and take a shower properly. Everybody on camp knows that they [IDPs] have the responsibility of buying soap and detergent by themselves. So, people sell part of their food to get those things. We never receive any hygiene materials from anyone. (Maina) 81 This was the statement made by a boy participant, as he explained the hygiene struggle of the female folks in an empathetic manner, yet with a suggestive tone that conveys the expectation that girls and women in particular should always be clean and neat. While the need for hygiene materials is related to the lack of non-food items, it is also particularly a sex-specific challenge for the females as they also have their menstrual cycle. It is interesting that the male counterparts do not only notice the lack, but also agree that while they are challenged by this, the female folks are more challenged. Lack of privacy is an issue that arose from the limited number of toilets in the camp because both genders now use toilets based on availability. “There are no doors in the toilets,” Alheri said. Women and girls also complained about how the usage of the toilets interchangeably has become harmful to their health, considering their sex. Because they always have to take a bending posture on the latrine as a female, they are easily exposed to toilet diseases. However, they are confined to such because the toilets in the camp are not only few but are regularly in a bad and dirty shape. The cleanliness of the camp is poor… to be sincere the hygiene condition of this camp is becoming so unbearable, especially for us, the young girls. We really need the toilets to be improved on because they are just few and are not properly taken care of and the toilets can make someone sick; we don’t have izal [disinfectant] to even kill the odor and if you fall sick and go to the clinic for medication, you hardly find proper medication. (Baana) Additional to how the lack of non-food items like hygiene kits affects the young girls is how their menstrual cycle is taken care of. Among the female participants, this issue was mostly 82 brought up by the young girls. This somehow confirms the earlier mentioned suggestions that older women were more concerned about feeding their family while the younger girls are faced with different kind of issues. Girls learned to adopt an unhealthy method that works for their menstrual cycle. While some girls have the privilege to buy soap to wash the clothes or rags used during their menstrual cycle, others who do not have such luxury rinse and sun-dry the used cloths in order to be ready for the next use. Any time I am on my monthly period, I use napkins or cut a cotton wrapper into a reasonable size that I can use as pad and when it is soaked, I remove it, change into another and wash the former. When I have money, I buy a pad, a washable pad. I can use a pad then wash it and use it again. I don't allow it to get too soaked so that when I wash it won't spoil quickly. I can use one pad for like three to four times by doing this. The Always [pads] I buy last longer for me. (Sadiya) Hmm; the condition here is very bad as most of us don’t even know for how much a pad is sold. When it is time for our period, we use cloth or our scarf to wedge the flow from the first to the last day, and this is because we don’t have money to buy pad. Another tragic thing I would like to let you know is that we don’t even have soap to wash up the used cloth and we have to keep using it till the flow stops. That is, we rinse it and dry it. (Baana) While the unsatisfactory nature of non-food supplies in the camp affects all IDPs, some are more affected than others based on their sex. Although the lack and insufficiency of non-food 83 items like mosquito nets, blankets, mattresses, and medicines affect all, pregnant and nursing mothers are particularly forced to live in discomfort because of this lack. Amongst other responses, a male participant of the study spoke of how the lack of nutrients and balanced diet has caused pregnant and nursing mothers to deal with birthing and raising sick children, while a woman spoke about having borne a child with special needs. I also observed that the camp environment is heavy on mosquitoes, hence the rampancy of malaria. The picture below of stagnant water was taken beside the camp clinic with one of the IDPs’ tap water sources right in the middle of it. Officials also disturbingly mentioned their concern with the bad drainage system of the camp, which has increased the level of stagnant water at different locations in the camp, especially in the rainy season. These stagnant waters all breed mosquitoes and increase IDPs’ exposure to unhealthy living. 84 Figure 7. A photo of stagnant water taken beside the camp clinic where IDPs’ tap water source is also located. Source: The author In the context of the IDPs’ unhygienic environment, an official explained the challenges of ensuring prenatal health, saying: [A]lthough the support for the mosquito net started just recently, they are usually in insufficient supply. [The clinic was] given just 100 nets, which is definitely not enough. Because of the insufficiency, the net is not distributed to all pregnant women at a particular point in time… [nets are given] to people whose malaria 85 cases could lead to something else or are chronic… [Nets are only given] to pregnant women in their second trimester. (Zanna) Although pregnant and nursing mothers are at the risk of exposure to malaria and other diseases, supplies like mosquito nets and malaria drugs are still addressed as a luxury amongst IDPs and in their clinic because of insufficient supplies. While sex-specific challenges are faced by the feminine sex and relate to aspects of female biology, there are other challenges which are themed along the category of gender. Gendered challenges as spoken about by participants were themed while discovering that a particular gender group spoke about the theme more than others even though all participants could all be affected by it. Gendered subsistence challenges. Camp leadership corruption stood as a subject that could touch all IDPs, but out of all the IDP participants in this study, only the women and girls spoke about it. Most complaints about camp leaders or “community leaders,” as participants called them, were from women and girls; about half were confirming observations from female officials; and few were the observations of the researcher on one of the fieldwork days. Camp community leaders are generally men who were formerly leaders in displaced communities. Community leaders receive philanthropic and some organizational supplies on behalf of all IDPs. Usually, these leaders know the demography and population of the camps because the housing is structured according to the local government of the people. These leaders are also only known for distributing the foods supplied by NEMA amongst IDPs. Every other supply that comes in --from philanthropists, individuals, or even organizations who cannot take out time to distribute them to IDPs because of the large population—is distributed by community leaders. Women complained 86 of how these leaders receive supplies meant for all IDPs, but the supplies are never distributed to IDPs except community leaders’ family members and followers. I also observed that the structure of the camp (see Appendix B) is one in which no gift or supplies can go into the camp, especially in large quantities, without IDPs’ noticing; that is, it is difficult for supplies to be “sneaked in” discreetly. For example, on one of my fieldwork days, the Food and Agriculture Organization visited the camp to give some farming tools to IDPs registered as farmers. After these supplies had been handed to IDP leaders, I observed that while many people who were eligible for the tools stayed in queue under the sun for hours with their cards, a few women just walked directly to the leaders in charge of the tools and left with some immediately. An official also confirmed the community leaders’ corruption by adding that humanitarian actors’ lack of swiftness in bringing in promised supplies immediately after any need assessment is completed also encourages corruption among community leaders, because the time lag allows local leaders to tamper with the official list of names before the supplies are brought in. As a result, some eligible registered IDPs will not get the supplies, while some might be registered more than once using the names of their children or relatives who are ineligible. In the midst of all this, it is surprising that only the female folks spoke of this as a challenge. Although community leaders’ corruption is a subject which could affect all IDPs, the mention of such by only the female IDP participants suggests that it either affects them more or their counterparts have probably learnt how to live with it or are not affected at all. The concern that arises from this issue is: why would camp corruption affect the female more? The responsibility of females to make sure that the supplies needed to take care of the family are available and sufficient is a suggestive reason why women are more concerned about camp corruption, as it obviously obstructs the fulfilment of their duties as wives, mothers, and daughters. Also, one can 87 only complain about a situation when one perceives it to be wrong. Other empirical studies also suggest that female IDPs exposed to such corruption from camp leaders are often manipulated and forced into sexual exploitation as an escape route from corruption, hence, an obligatory yet involuntary means of survival (HRW, 2016). Another participant of the HRW’s empirical study in a camp in Maiduguri confirms that IDP elders who uphold the responsibilities of meal ticket distribution within the camp usually put their family and friends first before the larger population. Inclusive of the above claim is the fact that meal tickets distributions are often done by those leaders at odd hours like midnight (2016). Another theme mentioned by the women and girls is psychological trauma resulting from the insurgency. While it is almost impossible for any human to have gone through the terrific losses of all kinds and negativity that these IDPs have gone through without being traumatized in one way or the other, it is astounding that only women and girls mentioned the challenge of living with trauma of some sort with so much repetition. Even the official-participants confirmed that IDPs’ insurgency and some post-insurgency experiences are traumatic. The only male IDPparticipant who mentioned trauma was a young boy who had a livelihood and got married early. He, however, spoke about trauma in the light of his wife’s pain and by extension his own trauma. Below are his very words: [D]uring this insurgency one of my children was abducted by Boko Haram; this has led my wife into serious pains and trauma. My family is no longer together because my wife is traumatized and till now my child is nowhere to be found. My wife was living on the little drugs from the psychiatric [clinic], but now, her parents have taken her away from me to take care of their daughter. Even I, I’m also traumatized 88 at all the experiences we had during the insurgency which I don’t want to think or talk about. I was here with my wife in the camp, but now I don’t have my family again. No special care, treatment, or rehabilitation was given to her by any of the organizations in this camp. (Bakura) For young girls, trauma was either connected to the specific experiences they suffered during the insurgency or fear of the future. One of the young girls said she and her family had to hide in the bush for three days without food or drink before they found their way to the camp. Another girl’s trauma is linked to the fear of abduction, knowing that some of her friends were captured on a day that looked very normal. This, however, suggests that the fear of abduction could still be present among young girls even though they live in the “protected” camp. She further explained that the news of attacks in other IDP camps in the region also scares her and threatens her safety. On the other hand, some women experienced deeper psychological trauma based on the loss of a loved one or loved ones to the insurgency. A young girl, explaining the experiences of traumatized women in the camp, said some are mentally ill, others died as a result of the trauma, and some were filled with rage in their interface with other IDPs. An official also confirmed this by sharing the experience of a traumatized woman: [T]here is also a case of trauma because of the crisis; a woman was affected psychologically to the extent that she was eating her own stool…I don’t know how it happened, but I think it is after the death of her husband that it all started, she also went mad…because her husband was killed in her presence…but she is getting better. (Hadiza) 89 While we would all agree that the experiences of IDPs were and/or are traumatic in nature, the acknowledgement of trauma by females alone suggests that they recognize it as a problem that they are now forced to live by and with. Not only do they acknowledge the presence of trauma, they also demonstrate that is a problem that needs to be fixed. Women talk about their traumas in hope that they could be helped. Contrarily, the culture of silence amongst men on issues considered as sensitive as trauma could influence their not acknowledging their traumas. Men are often saddled with the responsibility of appearing or staying strong, and most times a misinterpretation of what strength means influences their not mentioning their trauma. The last challenge to be discussed can be considered as both a gendered challenge and group challenge. Education was a common theme among young boys and girls as they both described their existing challenges. They all aired their concern about the dysfunctionality of the school on camp. The education available for IDPs is only opened to children in elementary school and junior high school. As I visited the school throughout the fieldwork, I also observed that all the pupils in the school were younger children and the school was in a poor state. The young girls did not only mention the unsatisfactory nature of the education they are offered in the camp, but also argued that fixing education for young girls would mean reintegration. On the contrary, young boys, having mentioned the dissatisfaction in their current educational system, placed the need for livelihood above education when asked what reintegration would mean for them. This suggests that any assistance tended towards IDPs, either in the form of subsistence interventions or reintegration interventions, should be gendered to be effective. An in-depth discussion on this will be attempted later in this chapter, but for now, let us address what participants described as their reintegration challenges. 90 Reintegration challenges Unlike the approach taken above in analyzing subsistence challenges of IDPs, based on the thematic findings of this study, participants’ reintegration challenges could only be classified as general challenges. Reintegration challenges as described by participants are more in the hands of powerful external actors than they are of IDPs. Participants did not see themselves as any form of hindrance to their own reintegration, as most of them clearly demonstrated that they know what their reintegration needs are. However, they could only address their reintegration challenges as what the government chooses to do or not do for them. Participants believe that governmental corruption is one the reasons they are still being held in the camp. While they acknowledged their awareness of issues of restoring safety and security to their hometowns and the ongoing attacks of Boko Haram in the region, they held the belief that if the government took their reintegration seriously, most of them would have left the camp. This suspicion was conveyed by Maigana as he touched on the issue of security: We overheard some junior soldiers talking and complaining that their top-ranking officers send them to the war front and when faced with the enemies they don't get order to fire. That is bad. Please, we plead that the government should talk to them [top-ranking officers]. We are tired of camp life; we want to get back home. Some participants obviously demonstrated that they could feel reintegrated while in the camp as long as they do not have to depend on the government, which suggests that the reintegration challenges of this set of people are livelihood support and other assistance to eradicate their subsistence challenges. Another man aired his frustration at hearing, over the radio, news of international funds’ being allocated for Nigerian IDPs’ reintegration, but never seeing any 91 result. Rebuilding IDPs’ homes and communities are major steps to reintegration. A participant who had represented IDPs in a regional meeting on reintegration of IDPs described the lavishness of the government officials who were present, which he contrasted with unmet government promises to fix the camps and make them habitable for the IDPs. He firmly held the belief that if IDPs’ camps are not getting fixed there is little hope that their homes will be fixed. “The government has done nothing to restore our homes and we know it is because they want to keep using us to collect money from international organizations,” he added. Another official validated this by adding: It looks like there is a kind of strong political will involved in this process of rebuilding. They [government] renovate 10 or 20 houses in the open where people can see, but when you go into the interior of the communities you will find thousands of houses untouched in terms of renovation. If you take them [IDPs] back, the owners of the 10 houses renovated definitely have a place to stay; what happens to others whose houses are in a very dilapidated state? Where will they stay and what financial capability do they have to put the houses in order? (Adamu) While IDPs considered corruption one of their reintegration challenges, the insecurity of the entire region as Nigeria’s challenge is a topic worth considering as we look into IDPs’ reintegration. The assessment and application of the policies surrounding IDP reintegration is also a keen aspect of reintegration. Are IDPs’ rights not being violated by being kept in the camp against their wish? Perhaps the camp could still be a temporary safe haven for them since security is not just an IDP challenge but Nigeria’s challenge. Inexperience in dealing with IDP issues, lack of 92 funding, and competing mandates between institutions also remain a hindrance to success in the reintegration attempts of the Nigerian government (Omilusi, 2016). Having identified what IDPs’ challenges are, as I proceed to the kind of responses that have been and/or are being made towards those challenges, the diagram below shows a summary of the above discussed challenges at a glance. Figure 8. General and gender-specific challenges of participants. General and gender-specific challenges of participans Subsistence challenges Reintegration challenges General Sexspecific Gendered Pre-insurgency loss, Post-insurgency insufficient access to basic needs, Health care challenges, Dependency concerns. Lack of access to feminine hygiene materials, Deficiency in menstrual health, Pregnant and nursing mothers concerns. Camp leaders' corruption, Issue of trauma, Unsatisfactory educational system. Source: The author. 93 Influences of external actors Internationalism and United Nations Interventions for Nigerian IDPs While the first phase of this analysis as described above dealt with the first research question of the study, this phase of the discussion seeks to answer the second research question based on the data collected and analyzed using the thematic analysis method. The intervention responses as found in the data were not only from the UN; therefore, I will take the liberty to explore the approach that other actors have adopted in responding to the many IDP challenges discussed above. Even though the responses inclined toward the challenges discussed above ought to be subsistence and reintegration interventions in a general, sex-specific, and gendered manner, the data only speaks of the intervention assistance in a subsistence manner with a general approach as well as the sufficiency and/or insufficiency of such interventions. The result below will analyze the quota and presence of other agencies as well as the UN interventions. Subsistence interventions General interventions. The study’s observational data revealed that IDP participants identified organizations from which they receive any sort of assistance and they could differentiate one from the other by name and assistance rendered. In the findings made, domestically, apart from the few participants who did not have access to IDP resources because they do not have their registration cards, almost all participants acknowledged that their food comes from NEMA. Although the quantity is mostly insufficient, they strongly confirmed that the only food they have received in recent times was from NEMA. Most participants demonstrated that in the four years they have been in the camp, Borno State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA) was the organization who started food assistance, but for about nine months before this study, NEMA has been providing them with food supplies. Although the IDPs receive the supply of corn and beans 94 from NEMA once in a month or two, condiments and other ingredients needed to prepare the meal are never distributed. Food supplies are brought into the camp by NEMA, but household distributions are mostly handled by camp community leaders. While participants showed appreciation of the food-supply assistance, they likewise displayed some dissatisfaction in the distribution of the same two supplies (corn and beans) every month. Insufficient and inconsistent food supply has been responsible for IDPs’ selling their foods to meet their other needs, even those required to cook the food, such as charcoal, other ingredients, the grinding of the corn, and so on. The UN’s intervention, on the other hand, is carried out through a number of agencies like UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA, IOM, and FAO, as gathered in the data and observed through the fieldwork period. These subsistence interventions came in the areas of health, education, and livelihood support as identified from the data. The health facility and school on the camp were identified by both IDPs and official participants as UNICEF initiatives for IDPs (see Appendix B for the location of the UNICEF school within Teachers’ Village Camp). Despite the fact that participants displayed the awareness that UNICEF provided these facilities, they also made known defects in the services provided. The only satisfied comments made by IDPs about these facilities is their appreciation of the initiative itself. Every other response that followed was about how these facilities are in short supply or dysfunctional, as earlier discussed in the section above on the challenges IDPs face in camp. While these interventions are meant to be a response to IDPs’ challenges, they rather serve as anchors to their challenges. Young boys, girls, mothers, and fathers all revealed the inefficiency of these interventions. The school, which an official described as a “temporary learning space,” is only opened to younger pupils; boys and girls who have passed the elementary and junior high-school age have no opportunity to further their education. The initiative is not inclusive of senior high-school education and beyond. Some boys and girls even said that 95 when they completed their exams with the camp school, UNICEF asked them to pay to receive their results. Parents as well as youths complained that there are no teachers in the school; therefore, the pupils only go there to play. Others noted that the school only has two teachers. I also observed during my visits to the camp that only two teachers were present, even though an official who worked with the educational initiative claimed that the school has 50 teachers. Not only were there no teachers, the supposed classrooms were in bad shape. What could differentiate that space from any other part of the camp was the fact that majority of the pupils wore a school uniform. The health facility is another UN-IDP intervention in the Teachers’ Village Camp. Though functional with the presence of doctors, clinician, and a space in which to attend to IDPs, it lacks necessary in-clinic facilities, thereby losing some of its effectiveness. Currently, the IDPs [the clinic] are receiving help from the UNICEF in conjunction with the State Primary Health Care Development Agencies. Some of the agencies support the staff while others help in the supplies of drugs. Like the UNICEF they help with drugs, but the problem is that they don’t supply syrup, injection, drips… Initially, UNICEF normally supplied drugs on a weekly basis, but now it is monthly. Most times the drugs are not sufficient… Paracetamol [acetaminophen], Amoxil, and Tetracycline [antibiotics] do not last up to two to three weeks before they are finished. (Karagama) The healthcare system intervention should be an answer to the health challenges that are being faced by IDPs, but the unfortunate description of this UNICEF subsistence intervention is 96 that it is inconsistent and incoherent. The valid observation is that this insufficiency was talked about by every interviewed IDP, either as a directly affected recipient or as someone indirectly affected. IDPs who gets sick after the supplied drugs are exhausted will only get access to the clinicians for consultation but will have to leave with their prescription because of the unavailability of the drugs prescribed. The lack of income that challenges most IDPs therefore suggests that only the privileged amongst them would be able to fill their prescription, thereby leaving the poor ones in danger of harmful health status. Skran’s study also confirms that a minimal four percent of the UNHCR’s reintegration project budget in Khailahun of Sierra Leone was channeled towards the health system. This became a major concern for women (2005). Most IDP participants could not say anything about some of the agencies present in camp, such as UNHCR and UNFPA, other than the fact that they see them around. According to Abbagana, a male participant who has been in the camp for almost four years: To be sincere with you, if not for NEMA that has been assisting with food in this camp, I can’t remember the last time…the UN rendered us any assistance, though they usually come and go. When the UN people come, they will just check our houses like they are inspecting, and we don’t hear from them again. While most IDP participants said they have personally not received any assistance from any agency of the UN apart from the school and clinic that is constructed in the camp, a few attested that UNHCR provided them with camp shelter at their first transition into the camp. None of the women mentioned being assisted in any form by UNFPA, but I observed a spot called “women and girls’ safe space” with the logo of UNFPA and those of other 97 organizations on it. I enquired about the place from some of their officials, and they described it as a place where women are taught skills and craft: a form of livelihood support. Despite the fact that no woman mentioned having acquired any skill from them, some of the focus group girls who have had the opportunity to visit the place said they do not get maximum support from the safe space, while others also could not access tangible assistance from them. We have gone to women and girls’ safe place to acquire different types of skills. For me, I learnt how to knit, but after acquiring the skill no certificate or capital was given to any of us to start up a business of our own; they only keep promising to do so but yet to no avail. Although we heard that money was sent for this purpose, it was not evenly distributed; they only gave it to some certain group of people based on favoritism. (Baana) Even the skill is not properly taught. For example, let’s say a particular skill is scheduled for six months. They only come around and teach for a month then tell us to go without money to start up the little skill we have acquired. When I enrolled, they didn’t bring the equipment the exact month the program was to start; they brought it months later. I couldn’t even learn well because the time remaining was limited, and they go about claiming they teach us skills. In fact, some of my friends went there to enroll and they [agency] told them [her friends] that the training is just for one month and it has finished. (Zara) 98 It is worthy of note here that all of the responses received concerning the interventions done through IOM psychosocial support and livelihood support were gathered from official participants, with no IDP able to back up this information by either being a recipient or knowing one. In spite of the officials’ mention of the psychosocial supports which were said to be done through games and chats, officials also recommended that the livelihood initiative carried out by the organization needs more support because of its inability to cater for large numbers of IDPs. This suggest that the reason why no IDP participant could back this initiative is because of its insufficient and absolutely limited coverage. Could the UN interventions be defined as immediate humanitarian response to conflict without reintegration intervention wired into the framework? They [IDPs] receive [assistance from UN] quite all right. In 2015 when we came here for camp management, the UN came in and gave the people I worked with then NFI (non-food items). They provided recreational materials for the children in the camp, even water; they did boreholes. They have good intentions, they come in, but you know at times, people that you entrust those work with might not do what you want. (Alimat) Mismanagement of funds, logistics issues, and failure to domesticate initiatives were also themes in the data gathered on the UN’s general approach to intervention. These issues were spoken to by officials who demonstrated a broader and more global perspective to the UN intervention approach in the region. Interventions are said to be non-domesticated; therefore, locals are left out in the intervention process. Some officials believe that this approach serve as hindrance to the effectiveness of UN interventions. “ [T]hey are also good in pseudo-assessment; they will 99 just show up at the camp continuously like five times, but we won’t have a single project on the ground afterwards,” Alimat added as she spoke about the importance of time in providing supplies after need assessment. This theme was also spoken to by most IDP participants who could only confirm that they see UN officials’ inspection without receiving provisions. On a more regional scale, UN interventions are seen as a drop in the ocean. One of the problems is also allocation. If the allocation for the work is 500 million, they will use 400 or 450 million for their operational logistics and only 50 million or 30 percent is invested into the work itself… for example, in Bakkassi camp, one of the largest camps with 7,000 households totaling about 40,000 individuals….That’s the problem with these UN people; they will tell you they are intervening in this particular camp, but believe me, it is not everybody they cover because they have their target. They will say out of those 40,000 people; their own target is maybe 1000. (Alimat) Even though the findings discussed above revealed how the UN and agencies have responded to the general subsistence challenges of IDPs, almost nothing was mentioned about ongoing responses to sex-specific challenges of females. In the findings made, the only time that girls ever received assistance inclined towards their menstrual health struggles from the UN was during their immediate humanitarian response to the crisis. This assistance was last provided for girls about three years ago, although new mothers are said to be given maternity pads immediately after delivery. Yacob-Haliso’s empirical study also revealed that the inaccessibility of Liberian returnee women to healthcare, sufficient clean water, and sanitation supports the claim of 100 inconsistencies in the UN groundwork intervention projects (2008). An official participant in my study confirmed that this is an aspect where the UN needs to make many improvements. “Sincerely speaking, it has been over two years now since they [women] received such support from the UN, and they are really in need of it,” Jibrin said. The “pick and choose” (Crisp et al., 2007 p.12) method of international organizations in interventions has caused assistance received by IDPs to remain at the immediate humanitarian response level (Omilusi, 2016). While the bigger focus of this study, particularly this section, is on how the United Nations promotes internationalism with its interventions among Nigeria’s northeastern IDPs, the presence of other humanitarian actors such as ICRC, IOM, and NGOs in this region suggests that the concept of internationalism as described in the previous chapter--that every human is part of a bigger community--is applied in some way locally or internationally. However, what the application of these interventions would look like with a gendered perspective will be addressed in the subsequent section. If I Could Speak to the United Nations: IDPs’ Gendered Reintegration Plights In this section of the study, I will attempt to encourage a gender perspective to the UN interventions and reintegration through the eyes of IDPs while we explore the result of what reintegration really means to them and the differences in the reintegration needs of both genders. This analysis will be made in recognition of the lack of sex-specific and gendered intervention approach to IDPs’ subsistence and reintegration challenges. While there are a lot of overlapping needs of IDPs, there are some differences in their needs which definitely call for specific interventions. Interestingly, the reintegration policy of the UNHCR is not gender-neutral, as the organization states its commitment to organizing workshops that helps actors to understand and 101 reach a common goal in policies and concepts to include “gender awareness and child rights training” in order to develop skills for the effective identification of “practical and strategic needs of females and males of all ages” (UNHCR, 2004, p. Five-25). However, the findings of this study confirm that the approach of UN interventions on the ground has been a one-size-fits-all approach, particularly because the need for food, physical safety, and shelter is almost the default response to a humanitarian crisis like that of Nigerian IDPs. Empirical studies of other scholars also show that there is a record of imbalances and discrepancies in marrying the UN gender policy for displaced women and girls with the actual groundwork these people experience (Nakaya, 2012; Skran, 2015; & Yacob-Haliso, 2008). In retrospect, what does effective reintegration and intervention look like for these people? To find a suitable response for this question a gender perspective would be the anchor to any intervention either subsistence or reintegrative tended towards them. It is also interesting to know that not only do needs differ by gender, but some of them may be categorized as group-and-age-based. For instance, what reintegration means to a young girl differs from it means to an older woman; this is also true of boys and men. On the other hand, some similarities are revealed across groups, for example between girls and men. According to the findings made in this study, a common theme that was continually mentioned by officials is the issue of need assessment. Need assessment is a strong requirement for an effective intervention of any kind. Need assessment does not only speak to IDPs’ subsistence and in-camp need, it also promotes reintegration in an effective and gendered manner. Need assessments would help distinguish the IDPs who want to return home and continue their former lives from the ones who want to earn their independence but still live in the camp. Need assessments in general help to reveal what the need is so that the targeted response can be accurate. 102 Some of the focus group members spoke of need assessment using the word “choice.” They also attest that if they are allowed to make a choice in interventions that concern them, longevity and success of reintegration could be achieved. Need assessment could also be another form of gendered approach to reintegrating IDPs. One official rightly claimed that interventions would hardly go wrong with need assessments in place, because IDPs will always prioritize their needs no matter their gender and as proven true in the findings of this study. IDPs will always prioritize their needs. They will tell you what they prefer.…For example, how do you take a Kanuri man and give him Quaker’s oats or cornflakes? You don’t do that! You give him his local food–couscous or swallow [solid starchy foods]. If you have their needs, then aids can be given accurately. We have been complaining that they are selling their food, but we know they do that just to meet other needs. (Alimat) A corresponding reintegration request as found in this study is livelihood support reintegration. While livelihood support was mostly the reintegration need of men and boys, it is apparent that being in the male group does not prevent differences in reintegration needs. Boys’ desire for livelihood support hinged on getting a job while they live in the camp; men’s request for livelihood, on the other hand, rests on their receiving assistance to return to their former businesses. Although all the boys demonstrated that they do not mind doing any kind of job because having a source of income is the most important for them, most boys want to have a source of income through being employed, while some who had previously owned a form of petty-trading required that with some capital they could go back to their sales. Men claimed that they could do more for 103 themselves than humanitarian actors could offer them. One of the men privileged to be working with one of the organizations on camp, having been farming and fishing before the insurgency, said though he is appreciative of his current opportunity, he still prefers to go back to his farming and fishing business because organizational jobs cannot be totally depended upon. Men argued that owning their own source of income is better for them not only because they have been able to do so much with it in previous times, but it affords them the job security that working under any organization cannot. The desire to return home is one of the cross-group reintegration demands found in this study. Men and girls emphasized so much returning home. Peace, safety, and security are as well an overlapping theme that emerged as a correspondence to the desire to return home. The meaning of returning home differs for each group; however, these two were the two groups solely inclined to returning home. Men desire peace, safety, and security restored to their homes so that they could continue their former businesses, as mentioned above. Their hope of furthering and succeeding in their livelihood is hinged on their return. For men, reintegration therefore means restoration of peace, safety, and security to enable their returning home in order to have their livelihood resuscitated and annihilate dependence on government. Girls, however, are tired of the camp life. Girls believe in the capacity of their parents to give them a better life than what they have in the camp. Girls do not see a better future for themselves while they are in the camp. Girls also mentioned that returning home would help them to return to school, because being in the camp has not helped them further their education. When Shafaatu, one of the focus group girls, was asked what she would do to enable a successful reintegration for them, she replied: 104 If I were in the position of handling anything in terms of providing solutions to what is happening, I would first of all make sure that peace is restored and people in the camp goes back to their respective houses, then I would embark on education. Officials also affirmed this theme as they spoke in different perspective on the importance of their return home for an effective reintegration. Added to officials’ suggestions of helping IDPs return home is their mention of creating a sustainable livelihood for them as well as ensuring their peace and safety. Alimat said the below as she continued to describe the importance of livelihood, safety, and IDPs’ return home as an important factor to successful reintegration. In my perspective, I think what these authorities need to do is… giving them these 18,000 naira [$65 CAD] cannot really help. What they will need to do is to just bring them home, give them training that will sustain them (livelihood support). The farmers amongst them, give them capital and maybe the seedlings, give them the modern way of farming, they will do it. The only concern is, the peace is the most important thing because they cannot access the bush now. Nobody can go in there. Their safety first! (Alimat) Although education also stood out as a theme common to the group of young boys and girls as well as women speaking with regards to their children, however, reintegration of education was often mentioned by young girls. Young girls desire education as a reintegration approach more than young boys. As discussed above in the previous section, although they both referred to their current access to education and the challenges that surround it as problematic and insufficient, 105 young girls revered education as a reintegration desire while the male counterpart chose having livelihood support as more important. The boys, however, did not altogether reject education in reintegration, they only preferred a source of income above education, which was not the case for the girls. Girls’ desire for the restoration of peace in their homes was also hinged on their desire for a better access to education than what the camp has to offer them. The quotes below show the disparity in how the issue of education in reintegration is approached by young boys and girls respectively: The only help/solution to the problem is to see that I go back to school. But first, let’s have hand/labor work doing, like riding Keke Napep [tricycle], farming, tailoring and other things that can help me get money after school hours; this work will help us meet up to some of our daily needs and school bills. (Ibrahim) Personally, my dream is to complete my education. I want to go back to school and continue my education in a good school… I wish to have a better chance of going to a private school where I can be taught properly like other children and to the highest level. For me, this is my first priority. Young girls like me have limited understanding [education]; that is why we all want to go to private school. (Sadiya) The disparity above suggests that reintegration cannot be approached only generally, because it will lack efficiency in targeting its recipients. As the above girl’s plight suggests, education will not only help girls to be learned in their curriculum but will provide a way out of poverty. Therefore, if reintegration is not gendered in approach, we would have made a minor priority major for some people and made what they considered major as minor. 106 It is important to note that the absence of a gender-sensitive approach to intervention by the UN and other organizations has made sex-specific or gender-sensitive reintegration seem farfetched. While we already noted that women and girls face some challenges that are unique to them, most of them do not even want to lay claim to a reintegration approach that will fix those problems because some of their basic needs are still unmet. For instance, despite Muram’s firsthand experience of being abducted, tortured, and abused by Boko Haram for three years, she does not want to lay claim to needing any gender-sensitive help when asked about her reintegration needs, because even the gender-neutral assistance is not in place, and she has abandoned hope of receiving any help for her particular needs: Sincerely, I will be frank with you, so many have asked me this same question, and nothing has been done. Even the Red Cross went as far as giving me a card that any time I need anything I should reach out to them, but they have done nothing till now. So, I am just tired of answering this type of question.... All I need is peace of mind; I want my family back. I want to get a place where I can live happily with my husband and also get some property [household materials] to start life again because all I had was burnt down during the crisis. Even my children don’t have clothes, I inclusive. (Muram) The response of the woman above portrays more of the feeling or a state of abandonment than belongingness, hence the question of internationalism as a UN injunction. This response shows that internationalism is evidently not a concept or initiative in which the above participant feels included, since she has not been a recipient of such in the groundwork approach of the UN. The 107 response also does not only depict the imbalance in the definition of basic needs, but also reveals the defect of a non-gendered approach to intervention, hence reintegration. The definition given to basic needs as only access to food and shelter leaves out the importance of sex-specific needs in females’ day-to day-living. This definition came about presumably because of the approach of the interventions and assistance channeled towards all IDPs, and females in particular. While the UN, AU, and other international organizations agree that rehabilitation is an integral part of reintegration, this knowledge has hardly been fruitful amongst Nigeria’s women IDPs considering their experiences (Oyelude & Osuigwe, 2017). Moreover, the culture of silence among men on the issue of trauma should be considered in trauma-sensitive reintegration approaches. “Even I have trauma” (emphasis added), said Bakura, the only male who mentioned trauma, after describing the effect of the abduction of his son on his wife and how it led to a deep psychological trauma for her. This suggests that he thought men shouldn’t be as vulnerable to these experiences as women. Ultimately, this suggests that a trauma-sensitive approach in reintegration should definitely be gendered, since men and women will have differing needs based not only the nature and amount of trauma, but on the cultural expectations about how they should deal with the trauma as men and as women. 108 Figure 9. A Venn diagram showing IDPs’ gendered reintegration plights. Men Male provider-ship Return home Women Li ve lih oo Insufficient food En Non-food items Tr d ca Hy aum mpgie a a cor tion ne ssis rup Educa tan tio ce n Girls ds up po rt Jobs Boys Menstrual kits Source: The author Summary The study involved individual interviews with both IDPs and officials as well as four focusgroup discussions in order to have a full understanding of the subsistence and reintegration challenges of IDPs and how UN has responded to those challenges, especially from a gendered perspective, if any. Fifty-two participants were involved in this study; 24 individual interviews were conducted as well as four focus groups of 28 participants. While IDPs have some common or general challenges, they also have some sex-specific challenges as well as gendered and group challenges. The issue of reintegrating IDPs also mean different things to IDPs depending how they are affected and what they consider critical for the reintegration. However, the approaches that 109 have been taken by domestic and international authorities have not responded to IDPs challenges equitably and with full consideration of their challenges. Therefore, based on these evaluations and result of this study, I suggested, based on IDPs’ requests, that any interventions, subsistence and reintegration geared towards IDPs should be gendered for efficiency. 110 Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendations Conclusions This study focused on the challenges of IDPs in northeastern Nigeria and how the UN intervention and reintegration programs have responded to those challenges, especially from a gendered perspective. Results of the study showed that although the UN has responded to the plight of IDPs, its intervention and reintegration approach in this region has been inconsistent and incoherent. Although most participants know the UN organizations and agencies, attesting to receiving any form of assistance in person was a difficult task for beneficiary-participants (IDPs). Contrarily, official participants could attest to the effort and presence of the UN and its agencies in the region. These discrepancies, however, suggest the presence of some irregularities in the allocation of the programs and supplies made available for IDPs by the UN. Additionally, in relation to the gendered needs of IDPs, results of this study showed that there has been little, or no provision inclined towards gendered needs (despite the UN’s stated commitment to gender sensitivity as noted in Chapter Four). The approach of the interventions, that is, subsistent and reintegrative, as shown by the results of the study is a non-gendered universal approach which I also regard as one-size-fits-all. Recommendations and Significance of the Study This exploratory study on the UN’s promotion of internationalism through intervention and reintegration of the northeastern IDPs of Nigeria paid much attention to both the general reintegration approach and gendered approach adopted in carrying out this mandate. The study contributes to scholarly literatures by exploring the challenges of reintegrating Nigerian IDPs with the input of IDPs themselves. Conducting this study achieved the goal of answering the question 111 of what reintegration means to IDPs themselves, based on an exploration of their experiences both pre- and post-insurgency. The study also contributes to understanding the place of the UN in IDP assistance and reintegration. In addition, findings made in this study elucidated how the concept of internationalism is applied towards Nigeria’s IDPs by the UN and international organizations. While the concept is generally applied to international organizations, scholars could also glean from this study insights into how the meaning of the concept is embraced by domestic organizations. Additionally, adopting a gendered perspective in this study further amplified scholarship focused on the issue of equity in interventions. While internationalism affords a citizen of a country the right to international recognition, adopting a gendered perspective to any situation affords such person access to equity. Although the findings of this study did not reflect a progressive groundwork in the UN application of internationalism in this region, the exposition in this study, however, could call for a revisiting of policy and procedures. Because an intervention policy that is not felt on ground by its intended beneficiaries is no more than ink on paper, this study therefore appeals for investigations on where irregularities might lie in the groundwork of interventions intended by the UN and its agencies to improve the lives of IDPs. In acknowledging the findings of this study, the following are the recommendations suggested for an efficient and effective intervention and reintegration processes for IDPs in Nigeria and beyond. These are suggested to relieve the inconveniences and sufferings experienced by IDPs, give a sense of hope and international belongingness, and resuscitate dignity in living along with gender equity. Improving the general and gendered approach to interventions. Unfortunately, as this study shows, even the general subsistence interventions towards IDPs are characterized by insufficiencies. Although reintegration is meant to be the ultimate goal of interventions, 112 subsistence interventions should also be approached with a general and gendered perspective. The one-size-fit-all approach to intervention has proven to be flawed with the findings of this study. Approaching intervention with a gendered perspective promotes equity, hence, effectiveness in intervention. Knowing that humans affected by the insurgency are both males and females, interventions focused on them should not just be universal in approach but should also be equitable, recognizing gender specificity. Adopting this approach will improve the situations faced by the female IDPs. They are often neglected because their male counterparts are not challenged with the same issues, which are therefore seen as not being the issue of the general population. Feminine hygiene and menstrual and pregnancy health challenges need to be addressed with utmost priority despite being sex-specific needs. Moreover, even though food is insufficient, the same priority given to the general needs of survival through the sharing of food once a month should be extended to the gendered needs of IDPs, particularly females. Issues of trauma and fearful living among women and girls will be lessened with the adoption of a gendered approach to subsistence intervention. As Kyari rightly noted, “Despite the economic strengthening, if you don’t return them back to what they were before the incidence, it means that they are incomplete.” The three basic needs of food, shelter, and economic strengthening should also be improved upon while IDPs remain on camp. They should be afforded the right and means to have a dignified life while they are on camp. Results of the study showed that some of these people do not even mind living in the camp as long as they can have a semblance of the independence they had before the insurgency which is basically situated on their freedom regarding the three above mentioned needs. Think future, think reintegration. While it is important to implement subsistence interventions, one cannot deny that the measure of success in meeting IDPs’ challenges is 113 reintegration. It is obvious through the findings in this study that institutions can hardly sustain these people in their current state. Reintegrating them back into the society is the future of a nondependent life for IDPs. Reintegration should first of all be gendered, with important emphasis on need assessments. While there are some general approaches to reintegration that could be employed, need assessment is required for success. A general approach to reintegration includes integrating developmental infrastructures, promoting economic strengthening, rebuilding homes, providing safety and security in villages, and of course uprooting the source of the mayhem. While some projects might be achieved within a longer timeframe, a handful of reintegrative approaches can be harnessed in the interim to make for a more dignifying living. IDPs need to be independent. As the participants in this study suggested, there is nothing more soothing to them than the thought of regaining their independence. They no longer want to live as dependents within their own countries. Livelihood support and skill-based programs should be available for all. Fathers and mothers are unable to head and lead their lives, homes, and children because of lack. Need assessment needs to be carried out in this particular aspect of IDPs’ lives so they can find something fulfilling to do with their lives and time in spite of their circumstances. Improving educational opportunities for IDPs. When I was younger, I didn't get the opportunity to go to a good school. But for the younger ones, especially girls, before they get old, they should go to school and get good education. Even if they don’t have the opportunity to go to a school outside camp, the school in camp should be well equipped. They should be given quality education before getting married. (Halima) 114 A functional educational system should be available for girls and boys. Education would create an opportunity to aspire for a better future and also equip them with the know-how of reaching their goals. The fact that they are trapped within an unpalatable situation at the moment does not negate their right to a life of dignity. Young girls and boys desire to go back to school. The government should facilitate access to the schools of their choice and also provide a means to get to the school. Considering the general awareness of IDPs’ challenges among the Nigerian population, the government should use its goodwill to source partnerships with philanthropists, NGOs, and corporate organizations to fund and meet the academic needs of these young girls and boys. A school bus should be stationed at every camp to take students to school and return them after school hours. Young boys and girls should also be availed the opportunity to skill-based programs that they can be involved in after school. As noted in the findings of this study, some IDPs prefer to stay in the camp provided they are independent. I therefore recommend that inclusive of the current UNICEF insufficient resources, the government should collaborate with Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) to see that younger pupils also have access to quality education per their policy, laws and curriculum (Usman, 2011). In-camp school should be well equipped with adequate educational resources and quality teachers. Camp school teachers should therefore be well trained considering that their role is important if the educational system in the camp will be deemed a success (Usman, 2011). Unfortunately, what authorities are not paying attention to is that the lack of these provisions threatens the safety of the region. Young boys mentioned how Boko Haram entices IDPs with money and the promise of meeting their needs if only they agree to be recruited into the group. If the hope of a peaceful and safe environment is dashed, the entire concept and effort of reintegration will be futile and more IDPs will be birthed. 115 Rethinking allocation and fostering accountability. One of the problems is also allocation. If the allocation for the work is 500 million, they [UN] will use 400 or 450 million for their operational logistics and only 50 million or 30% is invested into the work itself. I am not saying they are not working…, but the truth still remains that a lot of things need to be addressed. (Alimat) The multifaceted issues that come with funds cannot be overemphasized in any reintegration process. This issue could be either insufficient funds or mismanagement of funds; however, the latter seems to be the prominent issue in the Nigerian case. The issue of corruption in the country continues to be a lingering factor of why displaced persons still wander about aimlessly. Although rethinking allocation could be a recommendation projected at domesticating reintegration in Nigeria, however, I do not ignore the sensitivity of this factor. Issues of corruption and fund misallocation cannot just be addressed on the pages of a thesis. Therefore, there should be a transparent accountability mechanism in place such as a quarterly technical and financial reporting system which should be disseminated among key stakeholders. Also, key partners at the community, national, and international levels should be involved in the planning process of reintegration for efficiency in programmes and strategic accountability. Actors who domesticate interventions and reintegration initiatives should place more value on issues pertinent to reintegration as they make attempts to adopt accountability and prudence in spending for the purpose of the humans they are to serve. If the essence of donation is to meet the needs of IDPs, the purpose is defeated if only a pocket of them feel the essence of the funds and a large sum of the funds goes to logistics and salaries. While I acknowledge that some 116 of the recruited staff helping out in this region are non-Nigerians, yet, funds going into logistics and salary could still be minimized reasonably in order to meet its original purpose. Not only is the aim of donations defeated by funds mismanagement, donors and/or government are also defrauded because of this mismanagement. Men spoke about their awareness through news that funds are allocated for the reintegration of IDPs; meanwhile, they never get to see anything on ground. Although they are helpless in the camp, they are somewhat aware of the donations meant for their reintegration, and their conclusion of the matter is that the government and people in charge of these funds do not care whether IDPs die or live. Living with such a conclusion could lead to one becoming a threat to the people and the entire reintegration process. Accountability and transparency should therefore be required of agencies in charge of allocating funds and resources. Domestically, socio-economic capacity should be improved upon. Assistance rendered to national agencies that attend to IDPs’ needs should be strengthened internally for longevity by the UN as well as the Nigerian government. These national assistances need to be enhanced so that the UN will not always be relied on. Limitation of the Thesis/Study Several methodological limitations were discussed in Chapter Three, namely the absence of children’s voices from the study, linguistic limitations, and limitation in group selection. The major limitation of this project, however, is the limited number of research locations. Data gathered for this study were collected from one IDP camp out of the many IDP camps and host communities in Borno state. The researcher could have visited more than one camp, but considering factors such as the scope of the thesis, the safety concerns in the region when the research was conducted, and 117 limited time and finances, the researcher therefore visited just one IDP camp for data collection. Another limitation of the thesis is that due to the limited scope, generalization cannot be made. While the initial structure of this thesis was to recruit the same number of focus-group men as women (eight), the men-IDP focus-group sample was shortened by four members. Although I proposed that IDP-based data saturation had been reached which made the shortfall of a lesser concern, perhaps completing the number of men-IDP focus-group could have resulted in a richer data. There is also a possibility that men could have something more or new to say if the research team were males. Suggestions for future research A gendered examination of the impact of displacement on children and their aspirations, and possible solutions. This research has recognized its limitation that denied children the opportunity to air their thoughts. While acknowledging that children have also been impacted negatively through the insurgency in this region, it is imperative that their voice be amplified in reintegration programmes. Since an all-inclusive reintegration approach is what we hope to achieve in this region and beyond, what reintegration means to children should not only be acted upon based on what we are told by adults who propose how they think children have been affected; rather, it should be heard from the children-recipients themselves. The value-chain of resource transfer from donors to beneficiaries (IDPs). IDP-, refugee-, and returnee-focused humanitarian interventions and resources have over time been funded through a concerted effort of international donors from different parts of the world. While the majority of the donations are allocated through the UN and her agencies, there are limited literatures that document the expenditure chain between the two. A transparent access to how 118 resources are allocated encourages trust in the chain process. I, however, propose a comprehensive study on the strategies and steps of allocation from donors to the last recipients. Many IDPs in Maiduguri: The effects of IDP migration on the development of Maiduguri. The city of Maiduguri has in the past years added a large number of people to its population through migration. This increase has been influenced by the continuous growth in numbers of displaced persons from different towns and villages of Borno state and beyond. The semblance of peace in the town of Maiduguri has made the city a home for many Borno-displaced IDPs. The sudden migration of these people could presumably have positive and/or negative impacts on the development and resources of the city. I therefore propose a further research on the implication of migration for the development of Maiduguri. It is easy to ignore suffering when it is nameless and faceless. A million is just a statistic until you meet just one; only then are the million no longer a statistic, but people who deserve honor and dignity just like every privileged person. 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Saving strangers: Humanitarian intervention in international society. New York: Oxford University Press. Wille, P. F. (2006). Placing IDPs on the international agenda: lessons learned. Forced Migration Review,1 (261)7-8. Yacob-Haliso, O. (2008). If I could speak to Madam President: Returnee women's experience of return, reintegration and peace in Liberia. Liberian Studies Journal, 33, 1-22. 132 Appendix A 133 Appendix B 134 Appendix C RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD MEMORANDUM To: CC: Ebunoluwa Elizabeth Adefowokan Jacqueline Holler From: Henry Harder, Chair Research Ethics Board Date: July 6, 2018 Re: E2018.0501.044.00 Promoting Internationalism? A Gendered Examination of the UN Reintegration Processes for Internally Displaced Persons in North-east Nigeria Thank you for submitting revisions to the Research Ethics Board (REB) regarding the abovenoted proposal. Your revisions have been approved. We are pleased to issue approval for the above named study for a period of 12 months from the date of this letter. Continuation beyond that date will require further review and renewal of REB approval. Any changes or amendments to the protocol or consent form must be approved by the REB. Good luck with your research. Sincerely, Dr. Henry Harder Chair, Research Ethics Board 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9, Telephone (250) 960-6735 135 Appendix D 136 Appendix E 137 Appendix F Information Letter / Consent Form Date: September 3rd, 2018 Promoting Internationalism? A Gendered Examination of the UN Reintegration Processes for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in North-east Nigeria Student Researcher: Ebunoluwa Elizabeth Adefowokan Department of International Studies University of Northern British Columbia Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Phone: +2348061311056; +1-778-890-0200 E-mail: adefowoka@unbc.ca Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Jacqueline Holler, PhD Associate Professor and Chair, Gender Studies Program Room 3003 Administration Building 3333 University Way Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9 Phone: +1-250-960-6363 Email: Jacqueline.holler@unbc.ca Project Sponsor: UNBC Research Project Award, 2018 This project is being funded for one year by my university. Purpose of Project This is an exploratory study that is examining how efficient the United Nations (UN) has been in the reintegration of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-east region of Nigeria. I am conducting this research for my master’s thesis. I desire to investigate and learn how the concept “internationalism” which simply means “community-living at the international level” is being promoted by the UN in post-conflict North-east Nigeria. The purpose of this study is: 1. To investigate the improvements that you consider critical for your global recognition, inclusivity, and hopeful future; 2. To propose reintegration strategies that suit your needs through the inclusion of gender sensitive approaches in the UN reintegration programmes for you, and to also increase this awareness to scholars. You are invited to be a part of this study by sharing your lived experiences on the UN’s reintegration strategies in this camp. Procedures Involved in this Study Your participation in this project will include an in-person interview or focus group discussion. The interview will be recorded on a digital recorder, and notes will be taken with your permission. You will be allowed to choose a pseudonym (fake name) of your choice or given one for the purpose of protecting your identity. I will be asking you questions about your 138 experience of the UN’s assistance to help you get back to your “normal” life before the conflict. I will also ask you for some background information like your age, family, and education. The interview can take place at any location within the camp that you find most convenient. The interview will take between 2 and 3 hours. You can decide to skip any question asked if you are not comfortable. You can also decide to withdraw from the interview at any time. Any information collected from you will be destroyed if you withdraw. If you complete the interview, any information gathered about you will remain anonymous and confidential. This report will be read by my thesis supervisor and your identity will not be seen in the final research report. This is to check on accuracy of the report. The audio tape and interview scripts will be placed under secured locks. Potential Risks of the Study There are no physical risks involved in the study. However, there might be emotional or social risks. You may feel uncomfortable, upset or anxious. You do not need to answer questions that you do not want to answer or that make you feel uncomfortable. You can also withdraw (stop taking part) at any time. I describe below the steps I am taking to protect your emotions and privacy. • If you ever feel uncomfortable at any point during the interview, please inform me, and I will immediately stop the interview or discussion. If you want me to stand by while you calm your emotions, I will be glad to do that for you. However, you could decide to withdraw from the entire study or reschedule for another interview if you still want to be a part of this study. • Any information collected about you will remain anonymous. If you decide to withdraw from the interview, all information about you will be destroyed. Potential Benefits This research hope to benefit you because your shared experience may help humanitarian actors, particularly the UN to be informed of your needs. This work may particularly enhance the aid you receive to be targeted at your specific needs. This report may ultimately be beneficial by making recommendations to the UN and other humanitarian bodies based on what you want them to do for you. How will your identity be protected? How will your privacy be maintained? I guarantee that every effort within my power will be made to protect your confidentiality and privacy. I will not use your real name or any information that will allow you to be identified. We will change details to protect confidentiality. Any of your information recorded and/or written will be properly protected in a computer with a password that only I know. Original field notes with your name will be kept in a secured safe and the key will be with me. Apart from my research assistant and I who are going to collect this information, the only person who can access the recorded information is my project supervisor. The study is expected to be completed by March 2019. We encourage focus group participants to keep details of the discussions within the group; however, we might not be able to control what participants do with the information discussed. Study Results The study is expected to be completed by March 2019. The results of this study will be reported in a graduate thesis and may also be published in journal articles and books. The main study findings will be published in academic journal articles. If you would like a brief summary of the results, please let me know how you would like it sent to you. I will also leave a contact number with which I can be reached on. 139 Who can you contact if you have questions about the study? If you have any questions about what we are asking of you, please contact me directly or my supervisor through the information provided at the top of the first page of this form. Who can you contact if you have complaints or concerns about the study? If you have any concerns or complaints about your rights as a research participant and/or your experiences while participating in this study, contact the UNBC Office of Research at +1 250-960-6735 or by e-mail at reb@unbc.ca. PARTICIPANT CONSENT AND SIGNATURE PAGE Taking part in this study is entirely up to you. You have the right to refuse to participate in this study. If you decide to take part, you may choose to pull out of the study at any time without giving a reason and without any negative impact on your [for example, employment, class standing, access to further services from the community center, day care, etc.]. • Your signature below indicates that you have received a copy of this consent form for your own records. • Your signature indicates that you consent to participate in this study. __________________________ Participant Signature ________________________ Date __________________________ Printed Name of the Participant 140 CONSENT I have read or been described the information presented in the information letter about the project: YES NO I have had the opportunity to ask questions about my involvement in this project and to receive additional details I requested. YES NO I understand that if I agree to participate in this project, I may withdraw from the project at any time up until the report completion, with no consequences of any kind. I have been given a copy of this form. YES NO I agree to be recorded YES NO I agree that my name can be used. YES NO Follow-up information (e.g. transcription) can be sent to me at the following e-mail or mailing address: YES NO Signature (or note of verbal consent): Name of Participant (Printed): Date: 141 Appendix G QUESTIONS (IDPs) 1. Can you please tell me your age? 2. Can you tell me how you were living before the conflict? Prompt: Did you have a job, were you student, or were you married? 3. Can you please tell me what has changed for you since the conflict? 4. Can you please tell me how often/what kind of help or assistance you receive from the UN? 5. Can you please tell me what you need to help get your life back together? 6. What is your own definition of having your life back together? OFFICIALS 1. Can you please tell me your age? 2. How long have you been working with these IDPs? 3. Can you please tell me if IDPs receive help from the UN? If yes, how often/what kind of help or assistance do they get? 4. Can you please tell me what you think IDPs need for a successful reintegration? 5. In what areas do you think the UN should increase/improve the aids given to IDPs? FOCUS GROUP Focus group’s question was generated from themes that emerge from individual-based (IDPs and Officials) interviews and related to recommendations for policies. 142 Appendix H 1. PRE-INSURGENCY LIFE • SATISFACTORY LIVING o INDEPENDENCE o SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD o OWNED PROPERTIES o FAMILY UNITY • EDUCATION o WESTERN EDUCATION? ISLAMIC? YES/NO/BOTH/NONE • CHILD-MARRIAGE 2. INSURGENCY ERA/EXPERIENCES • NEGATIVE LIFE ALTERATION o LOSS OF LIVELIHOOD AND MEANS o LOSS OF PROPERTIES o LOSS OF FAMILY o LOSS OF HOPES/DREAMS o PECULIAR 3. POST-INSURGENCY/CAMP LIFE • UNSATISFACTORY CAMP-LIVING o INSUFFICIENT/INCONSISTENT FOOD o LACK OF NFI (NON-FOOD ITEMS, MATTRESS, MOSQUITO NETS, SHELTER ET AL.) o LACK OF ACCESS TO IDP RESOURCES o NO LIVELIHOOD o LIVELIHOOD • EDUCATION o SATISFACTORY? UNSATISFACTORY? • TRAUMA • GENDER-SENSITIVITY? o FEMININE HYGEINE o MENSTRUAL CYCLE o FEMININE SAFETY/GBV o STIGMA • HEALTH SYSTEM o SATISFACTORY? UNSATISFACTORY? • CORRUPTION o FAVORITISM • IDPS SHORTCOMINGS o HYGEINE, HEALTH, EDUCATION, GBV, LAZY 4. REINTEGRATION o DESIRE TO RETURN HOME/NEEDS INDEPENDENCE o DIGNITY-INDEPENDENCE o EDUCATION 143 o NEED FOR LIVELIHOOD/JOBS/DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS o HEALTH/MENTAL HEALTH o SAFETY/SECURITY o NEED ASSESSMENT o OTHER ISSUES (SPONSPORS, BASIC NEEDS, FAMILY SUPPORT, ORPHANS) 5. NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT o NEMA o SEMA o NGOS o CORRUPTION/POLITICS o OTHER ISSUES 6. INTERNATIONALISM • UN o INCONSISTENT/INSUFFICIENT ASSISTANCE o SATISFACTORY ASSISTANCE o GENDER SENSITIVE? o IMMEDIATE H.R • INGOS o POLITICS • DONORS o NO GROUNDWORK 7. FIELD EXPERIENCE o BIAS/EMPATHY o FIELDWORK PROCESS o OFFICIALS 144