Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to assist the Nigerian government to support access for internally displaced children in that country to (a) education and (b) healthcare.

In education, DFID is supporting the Government of Nigeria’s Safe Schools Initiative, which aims to restore safe access to learning for children affected by conflict. The Initiative has supported over 90,000 displaced children to return to school, providing learning materials and training teachers on psychosocial support. In health, DFID is supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross, who have helped restore basic health care services for 225,000 people affected by conflict, and provided 150,000 immunisations for children.

All of our programmes, including those that assist internally displaced children, work with government authorities and other donors to influence national plans and strategies, and to strengthen education and health systems.