Nigeria
Since 2014, Boko Haram and splinter groups have used sexual violence as a weapon of war in northern Nigeria, and kidnapped schoolgirls to propagate their extremist anti-education rhetoric. In captivity, victims are subjected to rape, forced marriages, forced pregnancies, sexual slavery, and other forms of conflict-related sexual violence.
After escaping or being rescued, the women and girls are seen as tainted and often referred to as “Boko Haram wives.” Their children, born of sexual violence, are often outcast and completely rejected by their communities.
GSF and partners have been working with survivors of Boko Haram captivity across northern Nigeria since 2024. We first began with interim reparative measures in Yobe and Adamawa States, before expanding to Borno in 2025. In addition to working with several partners, we also provide support to the Women and Children – Conflict Survivors Foundation (WCCSF), a survivor-led organisation also working with survivors of captivity.
Through interim reparative measures, survivors have received financial compensation, opened and accessed medical and psychological care. A number of participants also received funding to resume secondary or university studies across Nigeria.
2022
987
SURVIVORS
RECEIVED COMPENSATION
144
CHILDREN PURSUE
THEIR EDUCATION
In Borno, survivors and local communities inaugurated water boreholes to serve their villages. A form of collective reparative measure, the boreholes address practical daily needs and have mended ties between survivors and their communities, who often shun survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and their children.
Applying lessons
The lessons learnt in our project in Yobe and Adamawa were applied to our work in Borno. While survivors chose a similar package of interim reparative measures, including livelihood projects and education, it was clear that survivors required both immediate medical care and financial literacy training before the start of livelihood activities. As such, partner FRAD provided survivors with private medical insurance for the first two months, allowing them to seek necessary medical and specialised psychiatric care before the project’s next phase.
Education as a form of reparation
In Borno, our flagship initiative on education as a form of reparation, in collaboration with the Neem Foundation, continues with the enrolment of a second cohort of 32 new students at the Lafiya Sarari school. In 2025, 80 boys and girls transitioned from a nine-month accelerated learning programme with Neem to private schools around the city of Maiduguri, bringing the total number of children participating in the education initiative to 144.
At the Lafiya Sarari school in Maiduguri, Neem’s expertise in education for children affected by conflict has helped dozens of girls return to the classroom or start school for the very first time, learning in a trauma-sensitive environment that responds to their unique needs. Elsewhere, Neem runs informal learning programmes tailored to children affected by conflict – boys and girls – and the unique needs that accompany their trauma.
With Neem, we believe this type of education can be a game-changer for children affected by conflict, especially those affected by conflict-related sexual violence. These children often are unable to enrol in school, or face many barriers once inside the classroom, including bullying and discrimination, and a curriculum that fails to take into account the legacy of war and sexual violence on their lives.
What I went through as a child left deep wounds in my heart. I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere. But this learning centre gave me the chance to heal. I no longer feel broken. I feel like I matter.
Advocacy
In 2025, GSF provided technical support to Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice on the review of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, and undertook visits in June and December to meet key government stakeholders to discuss reparations and collaboration opportunities.
A national dialogue on education as reparation was co-organised with Neem and brought together more than 60 participants from government, civil society, donors, and survivor groups to advance understanding and policy commitments on education as a form of reparation for survivors and children affected by conflict-related sexual violence.
In December, the GRS, produced by GSF and the development Research and Projects Center (dRPC), was officially launched in Abuja and in Yola. The launches were organised with survivors.
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