Displacement in **Ethiopia** has been driven by historical conflicts such as civil wars during the 1970s and 1980s, and more recently by the border conflict with Eritrea and the current crisis in the Tigray region. Droughts and severe weather also contribute to displacement, with over 80% of the population dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. More than 10 million people were affected by the 2015-16 drought, with lasting problems around food security and subsequent droughts leading to widescale displacement from the worst affected northern and central regions.<sup>4</sup> Climate change, and scarcity of pastures, food and water have escalated displacement and fueled conflict over resources. Many IDPs have moved to cities in search of better opportunities, leading to rapid urbanization and secondary displacements. Although the situation somewhat stabilized in 2019 following a comprehensive peace deal between regions that enabled the return of an estimated 1.2 million IDPs, a new violent conflict in the Northern part of Ethiopia in late 2020 has led to a wave of new displacements. According to estimates, there were over 1.8 million internally displaced people in Ethiopia by the end of 2019 (IDMC 2020), making up roughly 1.6% of the population (World Bank 2020a). According to the latest estimates, 32.4% of the population was living on less than $1.90 per day in 2015 (World Bank 2020b) and 83.5% were multidimensionally poor in 2016 according to the global MPI (Alkire, Kanagaratnam, and Suppa 2020). As of 2016, 25.6% of the population resided in households headed by women.<sup>5</sup> Regarding violence against women and girls, estimates from UN Women show a 40% prevalence of child marriage and 65% of females subjected to genital mutilation or cutting,<sup>6</sup> while nearly a third of women and girls have experienced physical or sexual violence.<sup>7</sup> Besides the large number of internally displaced people, Ethiopia has welcomed refugees fleeing conflict and droughts in surrounding countries. Due to its open-door policy, the country hosted millions of refugees escaping the violence of the war in South Sudan, as well as people fleeing increasing droughts in Somalia (Nguyen 2019) or persecution in neighboring Eritrea. While the country adheres to international law, the rights and freedom of movement among refugees have been limited until the January 2019 revision of the national refugee law, which enables them to access work, primary education, obtain work permits, driver’s license, register legal events such as births and marriages, and access banking.<sup>8</sup> In **Nigeria** , large parts of the country have seen violence and instability since the emergence of Boko Haram in 2009, which have staged attacks, bombings, and kidnappings in the northern regions of the country. Boko Haram’s terrorist insurgency has also committed targeted violence against women and girls – infamously in the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ kidnapping – and instrumentalized women’s social roles and norms in their ideological and strategic frameworks (HRW 2014, Zenn & Pearson 2014). Northern Nigeria has also faced troubles due to the dramatic shrinking of Lake Chad over the last 45 years, leading to large-scale migration and concentration around remaining water sources in the region. As violence heightened under Boko Haram, millions of people left the northern states for other parts of Nigeria, and surrounding countries. Additionally, inter-ethnic conflict and conflict between farmers and semi-nomadic herders have led to further displacement in recent years as violence has

> 4 <u>https://www.un.org/africarenewal/news/drought-ethiopia-10-million-peopleneed#:~:text=Ethiopia%20is%20in%20the%20grip%20of%20its%20worst%20drought%20in%20recent%20histor y.&text=Humanitarian%20needs%20in%20Ethiopia%20have,failures%20and%20widespread%20livestock%20deat hs.</u>

> 5 <u>https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.HOU.FEMA.ZS.</u>

> 6 - - <u>https://evaw global database.unwomen.org/fr/countries/africa/ethiopia.</u>

> 7 <u>https://www.unodc.org/easternafrica/en/addressing-violence-against-women-and-girls-in-ethiopia.html.</u>

> 8 <u>https://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/press/2019/1/5c41b1784/unhcr-welcomes-ethiopia-law-granting-rightsrefugees.html</u>

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