SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria Calls for Urgent Protection Reforms for Women and Girls in Crisis Zones on International Women’s Day 2026

By:Babagana Bukar Wakil, Maiduguri

As the world marks International Women’s Day 2026 under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls,” SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria has issued a stark warning that women and girls in Nigeria’s conflict affected and displaced communities remain dangerously underprotected, calling on the government, humanitarian partners, and civil society to accelerate structural reforms that move beyond symbolism to measurable action.

National Director Eghosa Erhumwunsem, in a statement released Monday, highlighted the compounding crises of protracted conflict, violent extremism, and a deepening climate conflict nexus that have pushed Nigeria’s displacement figures to alarming levels. The country now hosts over 3.4 million internally displaced persons, driven largely by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East and rampant banditry in the North West, with women and children accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the displaced population.

Humanitarian assessments indicate that at least one in three women in Nigeria’s most volatile zones experiences physical or sexual violence, a figure compounded by the absence of gender segregated sanitation facilities, unsafe water access points, and the near total collapse of local justice mechanisms. The loss of legal documentation and the breakdown of community protection systems, Erhumwunsem noted, leave displaced women in a deepening protection gap where fragile institutions translate directly into the systemic violation of their fundamental rights.

Women in conflict affected communities face systematic exposure to Gender Based Violence, including abduction, trafficking, and forced marriage, tactics routinely weaponised in armed conflict. The organisation’s statement underscored that the collapse of formal protection frameworks further entrenches impunity and denies survivors meaningful access to justice.

“Progress toward gender equality can no longer be symbolic. It must be structural,” Erhumwunsem declared. “Rights without enforcement are merely promises on paper. Justice without accessibility, especially for the displaced and rural poor, is a form of exclusion. And action without accountability leaves the most vulnerable to navigate fragile systems alone.”

SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria acknowledged the remarkable resilience demonstrated by women on the frontlines of crisis response, noting that women routinely reorganise survival networks, forming food distribution chains, sustaining informal livelihoods, providing psychosocial support, and holding households together long before formal humanitarian systems arrive. However, Erhumwunsem cautioned firmly against romanticising that resilience as a substitute for systemic protection.

“Praising women’s strength while leaving protection gaps unaddressed risks normalising injustice,” the National Director said. “Strength should not replace safety, and survival should not substitute for rights. True recovery is built not on how much women can endure, but on how effectively systems protect, include, and uphold their rights.”

Beyond armed conflict, the organisation flagged climate induced disasters, particularly flooding, as a growing threat multiplier. Floods and climate shocks disproportionately destroy the homes, farmland, and informal businesses in sectors where women thrive and frequently dominate, further eroding their economic foundations and increasing their exposure to violence in post disaster settings. In these contexts, protection systems are overstretched, legal pathways are difficult to access, and women’s participation in recovery planning remains largely consultative rather than substantive.

In its IWD 2026 statement, the organisation outlined a series of urgent reforms, demanding the removal of discriminatory legal and customary barriers that undermine women’s inheritance rights, land ownership, and economic participation. It called for the strengthened enforcement of existing protection laws, particularly in conflict affected states where impunity remains pervasive, and for the establishment of survivor centred justice systems that prioritise confidentiality, dignity, and accessibility for victims of Gender Based Violence.

The organisation further insisted on safe and inclusive humanitarian services that integrate protection, water and sanitation, health, and psychosocial support, alongside equal representation of women in decision making at every level of emergency response and recovery, from camp management committees to national reconstruction frameworks. It also called for deliberate budget allocations that visibly prioritise women’s safety, leadership, and participation in post crisis recovery.

“Justice must extend beyond the courtroom,” Erhumwunsem emphasised. “It must be reflected in national policies, reinforced through legislation, and championed by civil society and international partners. Protection for women in emergencies must be visible in secure water points, gender sensitive sanitation facilities, confidential Gender Based Violence reporting desks, and accessible legal aid services.”

Framing International Women’s Day 2026 as a moment of national reckoning, the organisation’s statement issued a direct challenge to Nigeria’s policymakers and humanitarian stakeholders. “This is a national checkpoint, a moment to ask whether Nigeria is accelerating reform or normalising inequality,” Erhumwunsem said. “A moment to determine whether women in displacement camps, flood affected communities, and conflict zones will continue to navigate systems not built for their protection.”

The National Director called for sustained investment in women led organisations operating in fragile settings, asserting that the future stability of Nigerian communities depends on the deliberate institutionalisation of women’s leadership across emergency and recovery frameworks. Action, the statement concluded, must be intentional and measurable, backed by financing that reaches the women who need it most.

Statement issued by Eghosa Erhumwunsem, National Director, SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, March 9, 2026, Abuja.