NATIONAL POLICY ON INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON IDPS
Policy · Human Rights
A Policy that prevents displacement and protects internally displaced persons by ensuring their rights and access to services. It targets displaced individuals and government agencies at all levels. This achieves durable solutions like rehabilitation and reintegration.
What Is This Policy?
The National Policy on IDPs is Nigeria’s comprehensive framework for preventing displacement, protecting displaced persons, and ensuring their rehabilitation, reintegration, and resettlement. It recognizes displacement caused by conflict, natural disasters, environmental degradation, and development projects.
Who Does It Target?
The policy is directed at internally displaced persons across Nigeria, ensuring their rights to dignity, safety, and access to basic services. It also targets government agencies at federal, state, and local levels, mandating them to coordinate humanitarian assistance.
What Does It Aim to Achieve?
The central objective of the policy is to protect and assist IDPs while ensuring durable solutions to displacement. It seeks to prevent arbitrary displacement, provide immediate humanitarian relief, and guarantee access to healthcare, education, and livelihoods.
Key Features
Prevention of displacement through conflict resolution and disaster preparedness. Protection of rights of IDPs, including access to food, shelter, healthcare, and education. Durable solutions: voluntary return, local integration, or resettlement. Institutional coordination: roles for NEMA, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and state agencies. Monitoring and accountability mechanisms to track compliance.
Current Status
Rollout Stage: active Coverage: applies nationwide Beneficiaries to Date: Over 3 million Nigerians displaced by conflict, disasters, and insecurity. Funding: Federal budget allocations, donor support
How to Access
Full text available via: Refworld (UNHCR legal repository). Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
Important Terms
Term 1-Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): Individuals forced to flee their homes due to conflict, disasters, or development projects but who remain within Nigeria’s borders. Term 2- Durable Solutions: Long-term strategies for IDPs, including voluntary return to their homes, integration into host communities, or resettlement elsewhere.
Official Resources
Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development: https://fmhds.gov.ng Oversees IDP policy implementation. National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA): https://nema.gov.ng Coordinates disaster response and IDP management. Ministry Headquarters, Abuja. Email: [email protected] Phone: +234 (0)9 234 0940 Link to document- Link to document
Legal Framework
Operates under the 1999 Constitution Section 14 on the rights and welfare of citizens, the National Emergency Management Agency Act, the Forced Migration Policy, and the National Human Rights Commission Act. Draws on the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (Deng Principles), the Kampala Convention on IDPs in Africa, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.