Nigeria — COVID-19 Situational Analysis: North East #2 (August 2020)

The second round of the COVID-19 Situation Analysis is based on the assessment of knowledge, practice and impact of the pandemic on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in conflict-affected communities of north-eastern Nigeria. Conducted by the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) unit of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the report covers the period 27 July to 15 August 2020 and reflects trends from north-eastern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

 

The first assessment was conducted in May 2020 two months after the index case was reported in Nigeria. In this Round 2, 85,047 respondents – or 4 per cent of all identified IDPs as per DTM Round 33 -- were interviewed for a range of COVID-19 related indicators. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were the primary methods used for the assessment and the findings were corroborated with physical on-ground observations.

 

The information collated and analyzed in this report includes COVID-19 awareness among IDPs, communication medium used to receive information, level of awareness (in camps and in host communities, respectively), exposure to communication on risks associated with COVID-19, mitigation measures taken (in camps and among host communities, respectively), health center’s preparedness in managing confirmed cases of COVID-19, effect of the pandemic on day-to-day activities (in camps and in host communities, respectively) and access to infection and prevention control facilities.

 

COVID-19 threatens to deepen the humanitarian crisis in north-eastern Nigeria which has been besieged with escalation of violence between Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs) and the Government for nearly a decade, resulting in mass displacement and deprivation. To better understand the scope of displacement and assess the needs of affected populations, IOM has been implementing the DTM programme since September 2014, in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and relevant State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs).

 

It is hoped that the findings of this assessment will help achieve the main objective of supporting the Government and humanitarian partners in providing better response to needs of displaced communities.