BUILDING RESILIENCE IN COMPLEX CRISIS (BRICC) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Conflict Analysis and Sensitivity Assessment A Report on Conflict Analysis and Sensitivity Assessment, Conducted in Damaturu, Potiskum, Yunusari, Geidam, Gujba and Gulani LGAs of Yobe State, Nigeria DECEMBER 2019 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 3 II. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 4 III. KEY FINDINGS 5 IV. METHODOLOGY 6 V. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 7 VI. RECOMMENDATIONS 11 VII. CONCLUSIONS 12 VIII. ANNEXES 13 2 I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Yobe state endures through the impact of protracted crisis, which significantly contributes to its poor human development indicators. As one of the poorest states in Nigeria, with the poverty rate of about 60%, the security situation is still relatively stable, with accessibility to most communities across the state. However, reports still show that armed insurgent groups are known to be active in several communities, particularly in the northern and southern Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state. Forced displacements, intermittent cases of violence, various forms of abuse on community members coming from state and non-state actors and disappearances, still continue to have a profound impact on the people’s resilience capacities and psychosocial wellbeing. Large populations in the state have fallen into perpetual dependency on humanitarian assistance for survival and several stories are still heard of precarious conditions in which people live in host communities and upon their return back home. An uncertain future bedevils the people of Yobe, associated with their desire for a return back to days before the insurgency era, is an added factor to daily stresses. Due to restrictions on their movements, most people are unable to pursue their legitimate and preferred livelihoods, leaving them almost entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance. And yet the few functional basic amenities are overstretched, water shortages are common, and sanitation is inadequate. As a result, there is a considerable upsurge in people, resort to harmful coping mechanisms such as survival sex, kidnapping, theft, drug use, street begging etc. This is exacerbating vulnerabilities and putting already vulnerable families at increased risk. ​ The “EU Support to Early Recovery and Resilience in Yobe State” opportunity aims to support affected and vulnerable communities, facilitate affected and vulnerable communities restore or create viable livelihoods, strengthen capacity for public financial management, facilitate dialogue amongst all stakeholders. The EU holistic approach will enable local communities to build resilience to the impact of conflict in Nigeria by increasing people’s ability to not only cope with the shocks and stresses of conflict and complex crises, but to transform the underlying causal dynamics. In addition, the opportunity offers us the ability to support diverse livelihood strategies based on careful market analysis and a contextualized understanding of resilience. An early recovery approach within the Yobe context should focus on identifying and responding to the strategic response "gaps" that have been identified in post-conflict settings. Priorities to address these gaps should fall within: Efforts to secure stability; efforts to establish the peace; efforts to resuscitate markets, livelihoods, and services, and the state capacities necessary to foster them; and efforts to build core state capacity to manage political, security, and development processes. 3 The European Union’s (EU)-Building Resilience is Complex Crisis (BRICC) programme builds on the absorptive and adaptive capacities of 28 675 households in Yobe state to be resilient to the shock and stresses of conflict, climate change and complex crises. The programme transforms the underlying causal dynamics to reduce the risks of future conflict by engaging communities and local leadership to create conditions to facilitate systemic change. Mercy Corps and its partners Cooperazione Internationale (COOPI) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC)’s under a consortium are implementing the BRICC program in 29 communities in 6 LGAs across Yobe State. BRICC’s Theory of Change (ToC) is IF communities most affected by conflict in Yobe state have ​ improved social protection delivered through responsive, capable government, access to essential basic services and improved livelihood supported by robust markets, and IF key community leaders and ​ government institutions manage resources, services and conflict peacefully and equitably while addressing drivers of participation of violence, THEN communities will achieve increasing well-being ​ over time and experience the impacts of conflict less severely. The BRICC programme has two specific objectives that guided this assessment, which are: 1. Vulnerable and conflict affected households from targeted communities meet their basic needs, increase savings and have improved access to basic health, wash and nutrition services; and 2. Vulnerable and conflict affected households have restored and improved livelihoods that are more resilient to conflict and climate shocks and stresses II. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES Mercy Corps conducted a Conflict Sensitivity, Resilience and Market Systems Assessment in 2018, which helped to shape the design and rationale for the BRICC program. The learnings, findings and recommendations from that assessment, helped to shed some more light into some of the negative impacts of violent conflict and resilience capacities to build on to prevent a resurgence from a state or macro-level perspective. It highlighted the extent to which violence has affected the various aspects of human life in the state and the extent to which grievances have fed into the conflict situation across the state. This follow-on assessment, provides a more in-depth understanding of some of the grievances which exist at a micro or community level and other shocks and stressors which have the potential to further exacerbate the fragile situation in the respective communities. This follow-on analysis strives to address gaps earlier identified and help validate or challenge previous findings. This new and additional learning from conducting a second assessment, helps ensure that the BRICC program starts to apply location-specific, conflict-sensitive approaches through the implementation of the program This Conflict Analysis and Sensitivity Assessment is grounded by the principles of inclusivity, equitable participation, cultural sensitivity, critical valuing of knowledge and approaches within target contexts of the communities covered under the assessment. The assessment attempted to incorporate 4 gender-specific and age appropriate approaches and analysis to capture the relevant unique exposure, vulnerabilities, constraints, capacities and solutions for the respective groups. The BRICC programme aims to transfer and enable access to resources, build or restore community assets and strengthen community and government structures. In the process of implementation, the program will potentially influence and be influenced by existing conflict-related tensions and relations. In addition, the programme may create new dimensions of conflict that could potentially affect access and participation by different stakeholders. By adopting a DNH approach, the program will work to ensure that both new and existing conflict dynamics do not significantly impact on the programmes’ expected outcomes. The Conflict Analysis and Sensitivity Assessment also aims to better understand the specific relationships and interactions existing in each specific context. More significantly, how conflict manifests from location-to-location and how communities can be resiliently managed starting from the lower levels of the society. Through the Conflict Analysis and Sensitivity Assessment the program teams can begin to engage diverse interest stakeholders and institutions at the community, state and local levels to generate evidence on their perspectives, demands and needs and how these can be used in the determination of the peace building priorities, participation and targeting by the BRICC programme For effective and conflict –sensitive implementation of the BRICC program, contextual information should inform program approaches, design of specific activities and program initiatives that are based on up to date, sound contextual analysis. Specific conflict analysis and sensitivity objectives helps provide an opportunity to understand the current trends by identifying, which community groups (including youth) are organizing and mobilizing, prevailing community divisions and connections amongst various stakeholders and their patterns of their involvement in violence. Perceptions of gender roles in the community, resiliency factors which unite them around conflict prevention The role that women and young girls play in peace and violence III. KEY FINDINGS ● Insurgent attacks on communities. This remains the major conflict and threat to peace and ​ security in communities. Respondents reported this to be the major cause of other conflicts and social problems in their respective communities. The hit and run tactics by insurgents, leading to persistent fear of the unknown in communities has also led to consistent suspicion and lack of trust amongst community members. Between September – December 2019, there was a gradual increase in violent attacks by insurgents, which heightened tensions in and around communities. 5 ● High level of Kidnapping in communities. Respondents