In June 2021, the Nigerian Army released 1009 survivors of violent extremist groups and conflict in Borno state to the government to begin rehabilitation and reintegrating into the larger community. The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development received the first batch of 500 survivors at rehabilitation camps in Maiduguri, to undergo a rehabilitation program. These survivors have been exposed to first and second-degree trauma while under prolonged captivity by violent extremist groups and then military custody while being screened and investigated for linkages to terrorist groups and radicalization. Against the existing capacity deficit, the Borno State Ministry of women affairs requested for support from the NE Connection to help facilitate psychosocial support for the first batch of 500 survivors under its custody to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into communities. The survivors are men, women and children who were rescued by the Nigerian military, screened, and found not radicalized or having linkage to any terrorist groups and handed over to the Borno state government for rehabilitation and reintegration.

This project which targeted the 500 survivors and officials of the Ministry of Women Affairs was implemented between 24^th December 2021 to 30^th April 2022. It included activities that centered around advocacy visits, capacity assessment for social workers of the MWASD, capacity building on psychosocial first aid (PFA), trauma healing sessions for the 500 survivors, and development of a PFA framework to support future returnees or survivors by the social workers of the MWASD in Borno.

Activities implemented in Maiduguri LGA of Borno State, with focus on training selected social workers from the MWASD already tasked with the responsibility of providing psychosocial support to survivors in various camps, it also included trauma healing sessions for 500 survivors in the various rehabilitation camps comprising of men, women and children. Considering the government’s continued attempt at rehabilitating survivors released by the army to the government of Borno state, there is an increase in the number of survivors who are affected and are traumatized and those who need a supportive environment to thrive to ease their reintegration into the larger society. By design, the project was aimed at strengthening the capacity of social workers to provide support using trauma-sensitive approaches in proving PFA and giving the Ministry a model through a contextualized designed a framework that will guide the Ministry and provide a pathway for institutionalizing PFA, while contributing to Building Community Resilience to Violent Extremism and Conflict in Northeast Nigeria.

Primarily, the project focused on the following

• Build the capacity of 8 Social Workers who are staff of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development consisting of men and women who were selected from the three camps in Maiduguri, Borno state.
• 20 lay counselors were engaged to Support 500 survivors to start their journey of healing through trauma healing sessions