Anthony Nwanze, Street Child of Nigeria’s Child Protection Manager, is used to working in the challenging context of a severe, protracted crisis - the conflict with Boko Haram has seen over 37,000 people killed, 2.5 million people displaced and 83% children out of school at the height of the conflict. Faced with the added threat of COVID-19, however, Anthony and his team are keenly aware of the added risk posed and the potential of this pandemic to severely worsen the situation, especially for the children and families we support who are already the most vulnerable.
Anthony and his team are working to prevent and prepare for a rapid increase in child protection risks and cases when the virus hits the overcrowded urban communities sheltering the most vulnerable families. They expect to see an increase in child labour and exploitation, increasing rates of malnutrition and associated health risks, increased rates of abuse as children lose access to safe spaces, and increased separation of children from their caregivers. Given the traumatic experiences that many of these children and families have already endured as a result of violence and displacement, the additional psychosocial and emotional impact that this pandemic could bring is also expected to be severe. Together with our partners, Street Child has already mobilised to provide immediate support through the sharing of life-saving messages, prevention strategies and sanitation stations in 28 communities across five areas in North East Nigeria – but much more is needed.
One of the most vulnerable groups who are exposed to child protection risks on a daily basis in North East Nigeria are ‘Almajiri’ children: itinerant Qur’anic school pupils (traditionally only boys) who are sent away from their families – sometimes to different cities, regions or even countries – to study the Qur’an under the care of an Islamic scholar. Alone in crowded urban centres such as Maiduguri, these children face challenging living conditions, and spend much of their time begging or hawking on the streets to survive, where they are vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and recruitment into armed groups. The centres where the children sleep are often dilapidated structures without running water, where the children crowd together to share mattresses and blankets. Despite the risks these children will undoubtedly face as the humanitarian situation worsens, Almajiri have largely been left-out of the mainstream COVID-19 response because of their marginalised status in society – as we explained in a recently published joint position paper.
For Almajiri, who have no safe homes and depend on begging to survive, social distancing and lockdowns are simply not realistic. Rather than imposing one-size-fits-all solutions, therefore, Street Child is working closely with our trusted local partners and their community networks to identify community-specific, practical solutions to reduce their exposure to risks, exploitation and abuse. Across four states (Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi and Katsina), we are working with local partner Almajiri Child Right Initiative to build a targeted sensitisation campaign, to distribute food and other essential items to Almajiri to reduce their need to beg, and to engage religious and traditional leaders in order to build community support for these children and reduce their exposure to risks. With funding from the Street Child COVID-19 Emergency Appeal, we will reach 2,000 of the most vulnerable children with this urgently-needed support.
Street Child30 April 2020