North East Regional Initiative: A Lasting Legacy

INTRODUCTION T he U.S. A gency for I nternational D evelopment ’ s Office of Transition Initiatives launched the North East Regional Initiative in 2014 as the flagship program to address the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. NERI, implemented by Creative Associates International, has been working for the past six years in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states to support locally driven efforts to strengthen stability and deny violent extremists the space they need to operate. In the past two years, NERI narrowed its focus to increase the resilience of key strategic towns and corridors in the Northeast against the influence and activity of violent extremist organizations. During that time, NERI and its local partners implemented more than 200 activities as a means to reach that goal. This photo book commemorates and serves as a lasting reminder to these

O livier G irard Chief of Party, North East Regional Initiative

activities and the resulting achievements made by Northeast Nigerians and NERI, working side by side to realize crucial gains in the battle against insurgency. Behind each photo are stories of individuals and communities defying the odds to promote peace and reject extremist violence. This book is divided into four chapters, each covering an area of focus during the past two years. • Strengthening the voice of women and girls • Reducing community and individual vulnerabilities to VEO influence and action • Increasing community security in target areas In March 2020, the new coronavirus pandemic hit Nigeria. NERI rapidly pivoted to raise awareness and prevent the transmission of this disease. The fourth and final chapter of the book presents NERI’s work to improve the state governments’ response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Northeast Nigeria. As you will see in the acknowledgement section of this book, there is a long list of people and organizations that made NERI’s activities and goals a success. It has been a sincere honor and privilege to work alongside these talented, dedicated and innovative people during the past two years. They are well prepared to continue to realize the positive change they seek. — Olivier Girard

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