In their continued efforts to engage on the issues of forced displacement driven by ongoing conflicts and climate disasters, PSI affiliates, the Medical and Health Workers Union in Nigeria (MHWUN) and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), held a series of activities to launch the PSI Project, Unions Defending Human Rights, Climate Justice and Quality Public Services for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria. The project is implemented with the support of Union to Union and PSI’s Swedish affiliate, Akademikerförbundet SSR (ASSR).  

Held in Abuja on the week of 7-10 May 2024, PSI carried out the following project events:

1. The project team visited the New Kuchingoro IDP Camp in Abuja, which provides shelter to around 1,200 IDPs, a significant number of whom are women and children. This visit was crucial to the project launch and aimed at understanding the needs and challenges of the IDPs.

2. Project Orientation and Planning Workshops

3. Strategic Organizing Workshop

4. National Advocacy Event and Launch of the PSI Participatory Research

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1. Visit the New Kuchingoro IDP Camp

The two Unions involved in the IDP project in Nigeria are incorporating human and labour rights, climate justice and the defence of quality public services for IDPs into their union agenda.  On 7th May 2023, the Project team, including the leadership of AUPCTRE and MHWUN, visited the New Kuchingoro IDP camp and, by extension, the primary school established by the IDP community in the camp. The visit was to identify with the IDP's plight, better understand the gaps in their access to public services and share the experiences of workers within the camp. The team brought provisions for the children, with both unions committing financial assistance to support the school. More importantly, the unions committed to support the demands of the IDPs, including alleviating the situation of the volunteers in the camp, advocating for children to have access to quality education and teachers.

2. Project Orientation and Planning Workshops

The project team worked together to develop the project implementation strategy for 2024 and the activity work plan. The project aims to ensure that unions incorporate human and labour rights, climate justice, and the defence of quality public services for IDPs into their agendas. Unions are leading advocacy and alliance building at the national level on the issue of internal displacement, and they are organising health and social care workers, including those who are internally displaced, representing them and defending their human and labour rights.

3. Strategic Organizing Workshop

One of the critical areas in which the project will be advancing its campaign is organising new union members from the frontline workers in the utilities and health sectors. To this end, the project conducted a strategic organising workshop to identify the unions' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. An organising plan was developed with specific success indicators. The organising activities will commence in July 2024.

4. National Advocacy Event and Launch of the PSI Participatory Research

Public Services International (PSI) and its affiliates in Nigeria, MHWUN AND AUPCTRE, united with other stakeholders in a one-day National Advocacy meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on 9th May 2024. This collective effort aimed to advocate for the rights of millions of Nigerians who are forcibly displaced due to conflict and climate disasters and disseminate the report of its Participatory Research on the Project theme: “Unions Defending Human Rights, Climate Justice, and Quality Public Services for Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria”. The event drew participants from trade union centres, Government representatives, development partners, members of the IDP communities, civil societies, media and international organizations, including the ILO.

Comrade John Odah, General Secretary of the Organization of Trade Unions in West Africa (OTUWA), chaired the panel session. The representative from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) discussed national efforts to ensure the protection of the human rights of IDPs in Nigeria. The spokesperson from the National Commission For Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), presented the roadmap to Durable Solutions for IDPs in Nigeria, while the representative from the Federal Ministry of Environment spoke about the efforts of the Federal government to promote climate-resilient water supply and sanitation facilities and infrastructure. The representative from ILO-ACTRAV discussed workers' rights as provided for in the ILO Guidelines on Decent Work in Public Emergency Services. A representative from the non-governmental organization, the Coalition of Civil Societies CoSET highlighted civil society advocacy engagement on climate-induced forced displacement. The leader of the

New Kuchingoro IDP Camp Abuja, shared his experience on how they self-organized to mobilise resources in the camp, particularly the primary school that they built with support from donors. He highlighted how there was no support from the government on their plight as IDPs and welcomed the solidarity support by PSI unions in bringing up their demands to the government.

The discussions generated active recommendations from participants, which aligned with the findings of the PSI Participatory Research and its recommendations.  

Findings of the PSI Participatory Research

Displacement has remained at an all-time high, reaching unprecedented levels in recent years.

At the end of 2022, 71.1 million people were living in internal displacement globally, amounting to a 20% increase in a year. Africa has the highest number of IDPs relative to its population; nine (9) out of 24 countries with the highest displacement rate are in Africa. Around 16.5 million internal displacements were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, an increase of 17 per cent compared with the previous year. Nigeria hosts the largest population of IDPs in West Africa. With a population of 216 million, Nigeria hosted 3.2 million IDPs in 2021. In 2022, the total displacement in Nigeria was estimated at 3,647,453, and it is projected to increase to 3,794,541 in 2023 and 3,952,020 in 2024. The direct economic impacts of internal displacement were estimated to be at least $21 billion in 2021.

The participatory research explored the themes of human rights, climate justice, and access to quality public services in Nigeria’s diverse internal displacement settings. The survey research examined how the PSI affiliates in health and care sectors (NANNM and MHWUN) have engaged in forced displacement issues, defending and promoting human rights, climate justice and access to quality public services for internally displaced persons and frontline public service workers. The research collated data on drivers, current trends, challenges and responses to internal displacement in Nigeria.

Additionally, the research surveyed PSI affiliates' awareness, understanding and knowledge of the intersectionality of conflict and climate-induced internal displacement in Nigeria and their centrality as frontline public sector workers to ensure access to high-quality public services for IDPs. The findings and results from the data analysis provided insights into how PSI unions incorporated human and labour rights, climate justice and quality public services for IDPs in Nigeria into the union agenda. It also documented the contributions and roles of PSI unions in the country's internal displacement discourse. The recommendations outline strategies to further enhance the role of trade unions in ensuring that public service workers access social protection and the right to decent work in displacement situations.

 Initial Recommendations from the Participatory Research:

• Strengthening trade union capacity: There is a need to strengthen trade union capacity and understanding of the complex intersectionality of conflicts, climate crisis and health emergencies.

• Trade Union Rights: Trade unions need to intensify efforts at promoting the human rights of frontline workers to decent work and social protection in displacement management and guarantee enhanced welfare packages for frontline workers in displacement situations who are exposed to heightened occupational hazards, mental health risks, and physical violence.  

• Decent Work and Social Protection: Governments should guarantee public service workers' rights to decent work and social protection in displacement situations, including during public health emergencies such as pandemics.

• Lift the freeze in recruitment: Subnational government authorities should lift the embargo on recruiting more healthcare workers, given the workforce shortage in the health and care sector, to address the ensure an adequate number of well-trained and compensated workforce that can deliver quality public services.

• Increased Funding: Increased budgetary allocations to the health sector, in accordance with the Abuja Declaration on Health Spending.

• Resilience and Adaptation: Strengthen climate resilience and adaptation capabilities, including implementing national peace and reconciliation architecture via a whole-of-society approach.

• Social Dialogue: Develop and incorporate new dimensions to social dialogue to include issues related to forced displacement, staffing shortages, quality public services and decent work.

• Partnership and collaboration: Build legislative engagement capacities to amend and integrate labour concerns in relevant legislations and strengthen alliances with civil society and other stakeholders.