Maiduguri – Earlier this month, 1,019,904 people affected by the Boko Haram conflict have been biometrically registered by IOM, the UN Migration Agency in northeast Nigeria since December 2015. Biometric registration equips the humanitarian community with accurate information to more effectively respond to the needs of people who have lost their homes, family members, friends and livelihoods, as well as those of communities hosting them.

More than 1.75 million people are displaced across Nigeria’s Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States, according to IOM’s latest Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), published earlier this week.  DTM tracks displacement and people returning to their areas of origin, as well as their needs; biometric registration  goes beyond the displaced populations in Borno and Adamawa States – the centre of the Boko Haram conflict – providing more precise, individualized data on location and needs. This allows for more targeted aid delivery by identifying family size and vulnerabilities, such as physical disabilities or illness. Those who voluntarily report such challenges during their biometric registration and the accompanying interview are directed to IOM’s mental health and psychosocial support teams or to other partners handling health and protection matters, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), among others.

Gathering information on the location and needs of individuals and their families through voluntary biometric registration and the complete Displacement Tracking Matrix for the states hardest hit by the ongoing conflict in Nigeria is critical for addressing major issues like cholera as it directs water, sanitation and hygiene assistance to those in need. IOM is providing hand-washing stations with chlorinated water and working with communities in camps to improve hygiene practices. There are more than 1,700 cases of suspected cholera in Borno state, as of mid-September.

Information from interviews and biometric registration is shared, in line with IOM’s global data protection principles, and continues to guide humanitarian partners in providing direct, impactful assistance to the neediest with the World Food Programme’s mobile-money transfers, among other responses.

For more information, please contact IOM Nigeria:

Julia Burpee, Tel: +234 906 228 2406, Email: jburpee@iom.int

Henry Kwenin, Tel: +234 902 011 2424, Email: hkwenin@iom.int