Since 2012, Mercy Corps has been working in the most marginalized regions of Nigeria to deliver urgent, life-saving assistance and build the resilience of communities.
In 2019, mercy corps volunteer jobs impacted the lives of more than 984,000 people across the country.
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The Concept
Nigeria has one of the largest economies in Africa, with over 60 percent of its growing population under the age of 25 and a cultural and economic influence that is felt across the continent.
Yet insecurity, corruption, and weak economic growth continue to undermine the country’s development.
In Northeastern Nigeria, civilians continue to bear the brunt of a conflict between the military and armed opposition groups.
Now in its eleventh year, the resulting humanitarian crisis has displaced millions of people, destroyed infrastructure, and collapsed basic services.
Some 10.6 million people are in need of urgent life-saving assistance, including food, health care, and water, and 1.9 million people are currently internally displaced. Most of them are women and children.
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, a decade-old conflict between farmers and herders over competition for natural resources has intensified. Thousands of people get killed in inter-communal conflicts that have taken on religious and ethnic overtones, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
They experience outbreaks of violence that pose security threats in Nigeria’s oil-producing South, and levels of crime, banditry, and kidnappings remain high nationwide.
At the same time, Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy is not keeping pace with rapid population growth, and unemployment, which causes poverty rates to rise. Almost half of Nigeria’s population of 180 million people live below the international poverty line.
This statistic skyrockets to over 75 percent in an agriculturally-dependent area where mass displacement and destruction of farmland have devastated opportunities to earn an income.
The situation is particularly dire for women and young people, who often lack the skills or the networks to forge a new life.
Impacts
Since 2012, mercy corps have partnered with communities to help them recover and rebuild while addressing root causes of conflict, insecurity, and inequality.
Every month, merch work impacts the lives of over 600,000 people across Nigeria. Here are some of its primary focus areas:
- Meeting urgent needs.
- Addressing the underlying causes of conflicts.
- Giving support to entrepreneurship and market development.
- Empowering the youths.
- Ensuring strength and accountability in governance.
Vacancies
By signing up as a volunteer you:
- Join Mercy Corps in building a more equitable world, where you use your voice, and urge Congress to take action.
- Also, Stand up for a better world.
- Set up a fundraiser.
- Bring your experience and passion to a wide range of opportunities at its Portland headquarters.
- Join Mercy Corps currently on the ground in Ukraine, Romania, and Poland, working to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs in the region.
Partnership
Collaboration is at the core of everything done at Mercy Corps. They know that no single organization can solve the complex set of issues contributing to global poverty and suffering.
That’s why they partner with forward-thinking organizations. Learn more about the difference we can make together.
Visit; http://www.mercycorps.org
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