Managing Human Rights Risks in Humanitarian Operations: Lessons from NEMA’s Northeast Nigeria Response

This research examines the management of human rights risks within Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) humanitarian operations in Northeast Nigeria, assessing how human rights principles are integrated into emergency response planning and implementation. Humanitarian operations in conflict-affected settings carry significant human rights risks, including potential facilitation of forced displacement, discriminatory aid distribution, and enabling of protection violations by security actors. The study draws on the UN's Centrality of Protection framework, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Protection Policy, and the Core Humanitarian Standard to evaluate NEMA's operational practice. A professional practice methodology is employed, drawing on field interviews with NEMA district officers, UNHCR protection staff, NGO humanitarian coordinators, and IDP community leaders in Borno and Yobe states. Review of NEMA's operational guidelines, coordination minutes, and after-action review reports for 2022 to 2024 complement primary data. Findings reveal that human rights considerations are not systematically embedded in NEMA's operational planning processes, that protection monitoring is largely outsourced to international agencies without adequate capacity building, and that mechanisms for community accountability and complaints are virtually absent. A human rights risk management framework for Nigerian emergency response operations is proposed, with practical implementation guidance for NEMA district-level officers. Keywords: humanitarian operations, NEMA, human rights risks, Northeast Nigeria, protection.