The Effect of Forced Displacement on Children’s Health Outcomes: Evidence for Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the poorest countries in the world. In 2018, nearly 46.7% of the people were living in absolute poverty. Nigeria is also the most populous country in Africa, with an estimated population of 216.7 million inhabitants in 2022 (UNFPA, 2022). This paper examines the role of internal forced displacement for child's health outcomes. We exploit the Boko Haram insurgence in Nigeria which resulted in the internal displacement of over 2 million people to neighboring safe places. The paper aims to provide the first causal estimates for the impact of forced internal displacement in one of the poorest countries in the world on different health outcomes for children under 5 years old, such as mortality, morbidity and nutrition indicators. We find increased child mortality rates in areas reporting a strong inflow of internally displaced individuals. The point estimate turns statistically insignificant when focusing on communities with separate camp sites built to provide immediate protection and assistance to the forcibly displaced. We observe very similar results pattern when examining contagious diseases but not other health outcomes in children. This suggests that there are important health consequences of integration efforts for children that require further attention by public policy.