One of the world’s largest humanitarian crises continues to unfold in the Lake Chad region with 17 million people living in the most affected areas in the four riparian countries Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. The presence of the terrorist group Boko Haram is now entering its tenth year and came along with destruction of livelihoods and property, as well as the undermining or devastation of educational, medical and political institutions. All sectors of society face widespread abuse of human rights, abduction, killings, torture, and arbitrary detention.Humanitarian access remains a key challenge in many of the areas hardest hit by this conflict; more than 2.5 million people have been forced to flee inside their country or across borders.
One year ago, in September 2018, representatives of governments, regional and international organizations and Civil Society met in Berlin/Germany, for the High-Level Conference on the Lake Chad Basin. The governments of Germany, Nigeria, Norway and the United Nations jointly organized the conference. More than 70 delegations discussed the highly relevant nexus of humanitarian assistance, stabilization measures and development cooperation in the Lake Chad region. The Conference brought the crisis to the attention of the international community, fostered cooperation among many actors involved and resulted in 2.17 billion US dollars in pledges of assistance. However, for local actors it is still a high challenge to be included in political coordination meetings and to gain access to international funding mechanisms. Moreover, one year after the conference with its good intentions, the situation in the region remains highly unstable and the protection of civilians remains a severe challenge: women and girls continue to experience high levels of sexual violence; men and boys are vulnerable to forced conscription or abduction into armed groups. It is of utmost importance to tackle the structural root causes of the conflict in order to restore peace in the region.
This paper reviews the prevailing humanitarian conditions in the Lake Chad Region one year after the High-Level Conference in Berlin 2018, looks back on the Oslo and Berlin Conference and gives recommendations for a way forward for this crisis-struck region.
Read the full Report in the pfd document below.