Displaced Women and Girls in Borno State, Nigeria, Need Life-Saving Contraceptive Services, Now.

We met Fatama*, a woman in her early 20s living in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), during our trip last summer to document contraceptive service delivery for displaced and conflict-affected women and girls in Borno State, Nigeria.

An estimated 1.7 million women and girls of reproductive age have been forcibly displaced in northeastern Nigeria due to a violent insurgency led by fundamentalist extremists, including Boko Haram. Women and girls do not stop needing—or wanting—contraceptives during a crisis. Women and girls affected by the insurgency in Borno State reported wanting to delay or space pregnancies. In fact, they said that they had higher demand for contraceptives after displacement.

*Name has been changed to protect her identity.