Health Priority Interventions for Internally Displaced Children in Nigeria Nmadu Awawu Grace Joshua Istifanus Anekoson Usman Nafisat Ohunene Nwankwo Bilkisu
Introduction Internally Displaced Persons (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 due to or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights, natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border (UNHCR, 1998). Where the persons are less than 18 years, they are internally displaced children. It is difficult to provide accurate data on the extent of displacement in Nigeria because many internally displaced persons seek shelter within social networks and relocate to other towns and communities to join other family and clan members. Women and children are estimated to constitute over 70% of the internally displaced populations in Nigeria (Getanda et al., 2015; IDMC, 2015; 2016), and they experience a wide range of health risks). Worldwide, nearly 28 million children have been forced to migrate (UNICEF, 2016) and are some of the most neglected vulnerable populations in the world (UNHCR, 1998). The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were developed to meet this challenge (UNHCR, 1998). The fourth principle states that certain IPDs, such as children, especially unaccompanied minors, expectant mothers, mothers with young children, female heads of households, persons with disabilities and elderly persons, shall be entitled to protection and assistance required by their condition and to treatment which takes into account their special needs. (p. 3)
IDPs remain subject to the sovereignty of their own government and consequently may not have access to international aid and services that can be made available for refugees. IDPs constitute the largest number of those displaced worldwide (UNHCR, 1998); they are often more disadvantaged than refugees because they do not benefit from assistance provided by international agencies unless the national government requests such assistance (Kett, 2005; Mooney, 2005).
The Magnitude of the Problem As of December 2015, the global estimate of IDPs due to conflict was 40.8 million (IDMC, 2016). Three‑quarters of these IDPs reside in ten countries of the world, and five of these are in Sub‑Saharan
