Poor mental health among Nigeria’s displaced young people

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated in June 2024 that Nigerians account for roughly 3% of the world’s displaced people.1 Ongoing conflicts and insecurity in several regions of Nigeria has resulted in the internal displacement of about 3.3 million people—around 1.65% of the total population—with children and young people among the most affected.2 In 2019, the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) reported that 1.9 million people were displaced in north east Nigeria alone; 60% of these were children, and one in four were under 5 years old.3

An analysis of the current response by government and other stakeholders found that although the immediate physical needs of displaced young people have been given some attention, vital mental health support remains inadequate, especially in view of the growing number of violent events.45

A 2021 poll by Unicef of over 21 000 people across …