Rethinking Aid in IDP Camps: Beyond Food to Sustainable Empowerment

Rethinking Aid in IDP Camps: Beyond Food to Sustainable Empowerment.

From 2017 to 2021, I served as an Administrative and Program Officer for an NGO focused on supporting women and youth affected by systemic hardships. Our mission included rescuing women trapped by dire circumstances and providing skill acquisition programs through partnerships with agencies like the National Directorate of Employment.  

One December, the NGO organized a relief effort for the Kuchigoro Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Abuja, delivering food supplies. As the Program Officer, I spearheaded the frontline and documented the process. Upon arrival, we were met by a large crowd, predominantly children many under three months old. Camp leaders ushered us into a hall, where we discovered a shocking sight; stored inside were food supplies twice the quantity of what we had brought.  

Months and years later, I observed countless organizations, banks, and churches repeating the same pattern donating food to Kuchigoro and similar camps. Before dismissing my perspective, consider this deeper critique. While the IDPs appeared visibly malnourished and destitute, the root issue was not hunger alone. By prioritizing short term food aid over sustainable empowerment, we inadvertently fueled dependency. Adults in these camps, though underfed, lacked productive engagement. With no skills or opportunities, they faced grim choices; resort to crime or remain trapped in cycles of poverty and high birth rates.  

A coordinator from a Benue State IDP camp recently lamented the alarming spike in childbirth rates a symptom of idle hands and hopelessness. This underscores a systemic failure.  

Here’s my proposal.

1. Structured Demographics: Governments and NGOs must map camp populations by age, gender, and skills.  

2. Productive Engagement: Mobilize men for infrastructure projects, train women in vocational skills, and establish daily schooling for children.  

3. Shift from Temporary to Long-Term Solutions: IDP camps often exist for decades, not months. Feeding programs are vital, but pairing them with education and skills ensures dignity and self-reliance.  

Aid must evolve beyond charity to empowerment. Let’s stop perpetuating cycles of dependency and instead foster resilience.

Until the moment when will shall dance in white Greater Grace.

Oyugbo Osagie Jonah