Prospects for dialogue and negotiation to address the conflict in the Lake Chad Basin

Dialogue as part of a broader strategy has many benefits and can help resolve conflicts and tackle violent extremism.

For more than a decade, the Boko Haram insurgency has plunged the Lake Chad Basin into a devastating security and humanitarian crisis. The insurgency and associated military response have left 3.2 million people displaced and led to another 280,000 refugees pushed across borders. The economies of the region have faltered, and today 11.1 million people across Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon are in need of humanitarian assistance. Despite some initial successes, kinetic efforts to defeat Boko Haram’s factions have fallen short, and insecurity continues and even appears to be worsening in certain parts of the region, as intra-factional fighting has taken hold.

Authors: Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)