Embassy of Japan in Nigeria Deepens Collaboration with IOM Nigeria on Displacement and Durable Solutions
2025/11/28
On 28 August 2025, Ambassador SUZUKI Hideo received Ms. Sharon Dimanche, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Nigeria, at the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria. Having assumed her post only four months earlier, Ms. Dimanche shared insights into IOM’s evolving work in the North-East and its strategic shift from emergency assistance toward sustainable investment and co-creation between Japan and African partners.
Ms. Dimanche highlighted the critical humanitarian situation, noting Nigeria’s 3.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), with displacement rising not only in the North-East but also in North-West and Middle Belt states. She stressed alarming challenges including large numbers of out-of-school children in IDP camps, widespread malnutrition affecting one in four people (predominantly women), recurring displacement, and the persistent threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war.
The discussion focused on an IOM’s ongoing Japan-funded project in Adamawa and beyond: rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, construction and equipping of community facilities, return and relocation support for over 300 IDPs to livable areas with allocated land for housing, and efforts to develop scalable, durable solutions under the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation in addressing root causes of displacement, enhancing peacebuilding, improving access to education and health, and creating conditions for safe, voluntary, and dignified returns, contributing to long-term stability and development in Nigeria’s most affected regions
Ms. Dimanche highlighted the critical humanitarian situation, noting Nigeria’s 3.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), with displacement rising not only in the North-East but also in North-West and Middle Belt states. She stressed alarming challenges including large numbers of out-of-school children in IDP camps, widespread malnutrition affecting one in four people (predominantly women), recurring displacement, and the persistent threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war.
The discussion focused on an IOM’s ongoing Japan-funded project in Adamawa and beyond: rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, construction and equipping of community facilities, return and relocation support for over 300 IDPs to livable areas with allocated land for housing, and efforts to develop scalable, durable solutions under the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation in addressing root causes of displacement, enhancing peacebuilding, improving access to education and health, and creating conditions for safe, voluntary, and dignified returns, contributing to long-term stability and development in Nigeria’s most affected regions