POST-CONFLICT RESETTLEMENT IN NORTH-EASTERN NIGERIA: SOCIAL WORKERS’ ROLE IN SAFEGUARDING AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT

Abstract

This study investigates the role of social work training in mitigating resettlement challenges, enhancing safeguarding mechanisms, and promoting psychosocial resilience in post-conflict regions in Nigeria. Relying on extant literature, the study adopts a desk-based qualitative approach to synthesise findings from global and regional case studies, international development reports, and Nigerian scholarship. The analysis is framed by Galtung’s theory of peace and structural violence, which explains how displacement reproduces inequality; Coleman’s social capital theory, which highlights networks and trust as foundations of recovery; and Sen’s capability approach, which stresses the expansion of freedoms through access to education, healthcare, and security. These frameworks collectively guide the interpretation of resettlement as both a humanitarian and developmental process. Findings reveal that displaced populations face systemic deprivation, including inadequate infrastructure, weak institutional support, and exclusion from governance processes. Social work training in trauma-informed care, mediation, and participatory engagement emerges as a crucial factor in bridging humanitarian relief with long-term development, fostering sustainable reintegration. Safeguarding frameworks, particularly those protecting women and children, and psychosocial interventions, such as trauma healing and peace education, are indispensable for resilience-building. Hence, the study proposed a conceptual framework integrating “Risk assessment, training, safeguarding, psychosocial care, participation, monitoring, and institutionalisation collectively strengthen post-conflict resilience, protection, and sustainable community recovery.” The study recommends the professionalisation of social work, embedding safeguarding into national resettlement policies, strengthening psychosocial services, and promoting inclusive governance. By situating Nigeria within global post-conflict discourse, the research contributes to theory and practice, offering evidence-based strategies for holistic, community-driven recovery.