North East Regional Initiative: A Lasting Legacy

FOREWORD

To the NERI team: It is with a heavy heart that I bid adieu to the second of the two projects known as the North East Regional Initiative (NERI). The management, staff and partners of NERI have made exemplary contributions. Performing in often difficult circumstances and, at times, putting themselves at risk, the NERI team is deserving of great respect and appreciation.

A defining characteristic of the NERI approach was its deep community engagement informed by the team’s solid grasp of the dynamics and challenges involved. NERI was responsive to the needs expressed by host communities — needs that included supporting security, strengthening social cohesion and providing critical infrastructure. NERI’s active engagement with women further strengthened the projects’ impacts on security and aided in reducing vulnerability in key communities throughout the Northeast. NERI’s outreach to civilian and military authorities was excellent. NERI built upon these relationships to encourage dialogue with assisted communities, resulting in increased confidence in and growing support for the authorities. This, in turn, enhanced goodwill toward the United States, while strengthening capacity and resilience to combat extremist groups. NERI, through its contextual insight and rich analyses, helped me and others on my team to understand the contours of violent extremism and the aspirations of communities in the Northeast. We grew to understand the need for security trenches, negotiations with state forces to keep markets open and the revival of communities’ cultural traditions. These insights greatly informed our discussions within the U.S. government as well as our interactions with other Nigerian and international partners. Fortunately, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives is working to document salient lessons learned so that these insights can inform future activities and current projects. Congratulations to the management, staff and partners of NERI on a long string of impactful, community-based interventions that promoted stability and helped to counter the threats of violent extremism in Northeast Nigeria. — Stephen Haykin S tephen H aykin Former Mission Director, USAID Nigeria

NORTH EAST REGIONAL INITIATIVE: A LASTING LEGACY | 5