This copy of training content is a product of Nathaniel Msen Awuapila, Executive Facilitator of Civil Organisations Research Advocacy and Funding Initiatives Development (CORAFID). The notes were originally used to train participants at Stream II workshop on "Mainstreaming Human Rights in Humanitarian Response", organised by OHCHR, Nigeria Office, on 14-16 May, 2019, in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

1. Understanding Internal
Displacement & the Rights of IDPs
in Nigeria:
Issues and Options for Better Rights Protection

2. Author:
Nathaniel Msen Awuapila, FSPSP, FIIM, FIMC, CMC
Executive Facilitator, CORAFID
This presentation was originally used
to train participants at Stream II
workshop on
Mainstreaming Human Rights in
Humanitarian Response,
organised by OHCHR,
14-16 May, 2019,
Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

3.  Introduction
 Methodology
 Concept clarification
 Internal displacement: “uprooted”
 Group activity – visualisation of IDP experience
 Conditions of internationally displaced populations
 Rights of internally displaced persons & right to protection
 Issues in ensuring the protection of displaced persons’ rights
 Options for better protection of IDP’s rights
 Concluding remark
Table of Content
5/15/20193

4.  This presentation seeks to provide a continuum
of experience for participants and should
be treated as an integral part of all the presentations,
not a stand-alone topic.
 The experiential learning approachis
used as a deliberate attempt to enable participants
engage in reflection and some form of hands-on
learning experience.
Methodology

5. 1. IDP
2. Internal displacement
3. Rights
4. Rights protection
CONCEPT CLARIFICATION

6. • IDP – Internally Displaced Person(s)
• “IDPs” are “persons or groups 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,
situations of generalized violence,
violations of human rights or
natural or human-made disasters,
and who have not crossed
an internationally
recognized border.”
- Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
IDP
By Julien Harneis - https://www.flickr.com/photos/julien_harneis/3009852745/sizes/l/,
CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5236657

7. Experience of being “uprooted” – displaced
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/c8a5e341-a40d-4a77-9d49-5c39bf2309e7-151207113604-lva1-app6892/95/internally-
displaced-persons-an-integrated-approach-to-rehabilitating-idps-with-dignity-12-638.jpg?cb=1449488253

8. 1. Visualize a typical IDP situation that
you know – who gets displaced in
the event of a humanitarian
emergency & where do they go?
2. What are the particular and general
needs that internally displaced
people tend to have, which they
need to address?
3. What typical problems do IDPs
encounter in the process of trying
to meet their various needs?
4. Who are the humanitarian actors
that typically attend to IDPs & what
specific services do they provide?
VISUALISE & PORTRAY

9. Condition of internally displaced persons in Nigeria –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo3T9mlzbeU

10. By “rights” we refer to human rights
• Human rights refers to the basic freedoms that
every human has a right to, simply for being
human.
• The right to exercise one’s freedoms commences
from the moment of birth till death.
• A person’s title to all the rights is without regard
to origin, belief, or opinion.
Rights

11. • The right to protection even before birth is
guaranteed.
• Benue State CRL 2008 [Sect. 38] & Nasarawa State
CRL 2005 [CRL 2008, Sect. 40] refer to & adopt “any
provision in any other law securing the protection of
the child (whether born or unborn) in criminal
matters.
• Rights are an individual’s entitlement & can/should
never be taken away, although they can be restricted
where a person breaks the law or in the interest of
national security.

12.  Rights protection refers to all such activities and practices
implemented to ensure that a person or group is safe,
protected, adequately provided with what is required to
live a life of dignity.
 A humanitarian situation characterized by exposure to
rights violations presents rights protection as an important
issue.
 Rights protection concerns include some of the following:
Rights protection

13. • Deliberate attacks against civilians
• Killings
• Sexual violence (against girls, women) including sexual
abuse & exploitation against children, SGBV
• Forced/early marriage
• Targeted attacks
• Abductions
• Destruction of homes, public infrastructure, utilities
(schools, power, water, health care services)
• Recruitment & use of children by non-state armed groups
(NSAGs)
• Forced recruitment of adults by NSAGs

14. • Targeted use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
• Disappearances
• Arbitrary arrest & detention
• Lack of access to adequate basic services including
food, water, clothing, medical services & shelter
• Lack of access to humanitarian assistance and
protection interventions
• Arbitrary arrest and detention
• Separated and unaccompanied children
• Child labour, missing children, etc.

15. Complete the form on
“protection concerns”
INDIVIDUAL EXERCISE

16. Rights of internally displaced persons

17. Like every other human, IDPs have a right to the enjoyment of all
their human rights, including:
 Right to economic, social, cultural, civil and political freedoms
 Right to basic humanitarian assistance (food, health care,
shelter, education for children)
 Right to
 protection from physical violence
 education
 freedom of movement and residence
 political rights, e.g. participation in public affairs (decision making
processes, voting rights)
IDP rights

18.  Displaced persons have
 a right to assistance from competent authorities which should
involve “voluntary, dignified and safe return, resettlement or
local integration”
 This includes help in recovering lost property, other
possessions.
 The Guiding Principles provide that where full restitution is
not possible, some form of compensation or just
reparation should, nevertheless be provided (Principles 28-
30).
 Government is obliged to prevent the arbitrary
displacement of people (Principles 5-7).

19.  In Nigeria, it is the duty of Government to see to
the protection of all displaced persons.
 The Government of the state where IDPs are
found has the primary responsibility for their
assistance and protection.
 Voluntary organisations and the international
community provide complementary roles.

20.  IDPs continue to depend upon their home
government for support and protection, unlike
refugees who are protected by international
humanitarian law.
 Quite often IDPs become ‘invisible’ as their needs
are not recognized or are inadequately attended
to.
 Quite often, they lack basic services – health,
education, adequate clothing, shelter
Internal displacement: issues,
challenges

21.  They are exposed to a wide range of risks hence more
vulnerable – to physical attack, sexual and emotional
assault, abduction, deprivation of basic rights.
 Women and girls and children become more
vulnerable at the onset of a disaster.
 Exposure to greater risk of being killed
 Risk of becoming pawns, being targeted, being used as
human shields
 Subjection to various forms of deprivation.

22. Options for better protection of
IDP’s rights

23.  Clear Government leadership must be demonstrated all
through the cycle of humanitarian support
 Collaborative approach has been advocated
 Use of Protection Sector Working Group (PSWG) approach
 SGBV
 CP
 Reunification, etc
 Conflict sensitivity of services and interventions, especially
in the management of IDP versus Host Community issues
 Ensure the mental health of all actors and ensure close
monitoring of all interveners

24. Case Studies & Group-based Activities:
Challenges of Rights Protection for IDPs
DAY 2: Working Session III

25.  Propose a framework for Government-led,
collaborative approach to manage the challenges
faced by IDPs in the Middle Belt.
Group Activity

26.  No one aspires to a life of displacement. To say the
least, displacement is a horrifying experience
 The issues surrounding displaced persons are many
and cannot be addressed by them. Government has a
duty to attend to their needs
 Government should take the lead
 A collaborative approach is advocated
 Preventive approach is the best option, as it makes
mitigation effort easier and more attainable.
Concluding remark