Nigeria - As part of its efforts towards strengthening the capacities of the relevant government agencies to prepare and respond to humanitarian crisis in North-Eastern Nigeria, IOM organized a “Handover Workshop” for officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Red Cross, Humanitarian Partners and relevant NGOs in Abuja on 27 September 2016, to mark the end of its current capacity building project.

Since June 2015, with the support of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), IOM Nigeria has been carrying out capacity building activities in order to strengthen the knowledge and skills of relevant government officials and local partners in humanitarian response and preparedness, especially in assisting displaced populations in Nigeria’s northeast.

Since the start of capacity-building activities, IOM has trained 488 staff from NEMA, SEMA, relevant government institutions, the Red Cross and other humanitarian partners in Camp Coordination and Camp Management, SPHERE Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response, Psychological First Aid, Protection Mainstreaming in CCCM, and Emergency Shelter.

A group of 32 specialists have been trained as CCCM trainers, and another 21 as Emergency Shelter trainers. Prior to carrying out various training sessions, together with NEMA HQ, IOM conducted learning needs assessments in 20 institutions in 13 states to identify which training topics were the most relevant and needed in Nigeria. Following the findings of the assessment, IOM contextualized training materials and facilitated training sessions.

At the workshop, IOM handed over the "Capacity Building Tools" to NEMA and SEMAs to enable them cascade these training activities nationwide.

IOM Nigeria Chief of Mission Enira Krdzalic said: “This event does not mean that collaboration between IOM and NEMA HQ in capacity building is over. It only marks the completion of one series of capacity-building projects. Collaboration between IOM and NEMA in capacity building will continue.”

The activities were part of an IOM project: “Strengthening the humanitarian response to the displacement crisis in North East Nigeria”/ “Emergency mental health and psychosocial support for affected population in North East of Nigeria” funded by USAID/OFDA.

For further information, please contact IOM Abuja. Ikechukwu Hillarion Attah, Tel: +234 8140671127, Email: iattah@iom.int or Enira  Krdzalic, Email: ekrdzalic@iom.int