The only sustainable solution to reduce dependency on humanitarian aid is to teach women skills that will enable them to start small businesses, make money and become self-reliant.
Widows in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State are struggling to make ends meet – they say that in the harsh economic climate they cannot afford to put food on the table or pay for their children’s schooling.
With their breadwinners now dead – or missing, presumed dead – widows do whatever they can to feed and care for their children but it’s not enough. Most rely on the government or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide humanitarian aid.
Because they have little to no education, they struggle to find work. Many end up begging on the streets.
A few resort to high-risk coping strategies, such as transactional sex in exchange for money or food so that they can feed their families.
Many go into remote bushes and forests to collect firewood even though they know there is a good chance that they will cross paths with insurgents and could be attacked, raped or kidnapped for ransom.
Women’s rights activists are calling on the government to do more to help widows and women whose husbands are missing or in custody.
They say the only sustainable solution is to empower women by teaching them skills that will enable them to start small businesses, make money and become self-reliant.
Most of the widows lost their husbands at the height of the insurgency in attacks carried out by fighters belonging to the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, or its splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
They are victims of displacements, having been forced to flee the violence in their communities to get to a place of safety.
Many men are simply missing – and their wives and families do not know if they’re alive or dead.
Hundreds were arrested and detained by the military after they were wrongfully accused of having links with insurgents. They have spent years in detention without trial.
Lucy Yunana, a human rights activist, praised the Borno State government and NGOS for providing humanitarian aid to destitute women but said it was not a lasting solution.
“The only way women will become self-reliant is if they are empowered. The state needs to provide skills-acquisition training programmes to enable women to make a living and become less reliant on humanitarian aid. This is the only sustainable solution.”
Yunana said as long as women depended solely on humanitarian aid, they would remain trapped in poverty, without having enough money to meet basic needs, including food, clothing and proper shelter.
“Although humanitarian aid alleviates some suffering, it is not sustainable.
“There are problems. In some cases the aid does not reach those for whom it is intended. And sometimes the beneficiaries are so desperate that they sell the food and non-food items they receive to get money.
“Later these women accuse NGOs and the government of not supporting them. This is patently not the case and it is unfair to those who desperately need humanitarian aid to survive.”
Hajja Gana Suleiman, the chairperson of Jire Dole, a network of women who have missing relatives and who campaign for justice, told RNI that the majority of displaced people in Borno State relied on humanitarian support to survive.
“It is particularly hard for widows and women whose husbands are missing or in detention. Most have little to no schooling and cannot find work. They are among the most vulnerable in society.
“The only way to reduce their dependency on humanitarian support is if they are given the opportunity to become skilled.
“The government needs to empower these women by encouraging them to learn new skills. This is the only way they will be able to become fully self-reliant.”
SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO
