Understanding local welcome, social cohesion and the role of refugee-led organisations in Nigeria
By Endam Home of Hope (EHHOP), drawing on the experience of its Founder and CEO, Dr. Yvonne Ndaga.
What makes a community welcoming to people who have been forced to leave their homes?
Is it the assistance provided when they arrive? The shelter offered when they have nowhere else to go? Or the opportunities they receive to rebuild their lives?
These forms of support are essential. Yet sustainable welcome requires something deeper: understanding, acceptance, dignity and a commitment to building relationships between displaced people and the communities receiving them.
From the experience of our Founder and CEO, Dr. Yvonne Ndaga, working with refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in Nigeria, one lesson stands out: lasting solutions must recognise the needs of displaced people without overlooking the challenges faced by host communities.
This is where local leadership, social cohesion and meaningful participation become especially important.
A welcome that recognises everyone’s reality
Displacement affects more than the people who have been forced to leave their homes. It also has implications for the communities where they seek safety and opportunities to rebuild their lives.
Many host communities are already navigating poverty, insecurity and limited resources. Families may be struggling to meet their own needs while adjusting to the arrival of displaced people.
Ignoring these realities can make it harder to build understanding and cooperation.
A sustainable approach must recognise that refugees, IDPs and host communities all have needs, concerns and aspirations. Supporting displaced people should not mean overlooking the people who receive them.
Instead, community-based responses should create opportunities for cooperation, shared learning and access to support that reflects the realities of different groups.
For Endam Home of Hope (EHHOP), local welcome is not simply about providing assistance. It is about recognising people’s dignity and creating the conditions for them to participate meaningfully in community life.
Refugee leadership is part of the solution
Refugees are often discussed in terms of the challenges they face and the assistance they require. However, this perspective does not fully recognise their potential to contribute to the communities where they live.
Refugees bring skills, knowledge, ideas and experiences that can help shape practical solutions.
Refugee-led initiatives provide opportunities for people to take an active role in addressing community needs. Vocational training, farming and other shared activities can bring refugees and host community members together around common goals.
Through these experiences, people can exchange knowledge, develop skills and build relationships. Such opportunities can help reduce divisions and strengthen a sense of belonging.
This is why refugee participation must go beyond consultation or attendance at community activities. Refugees should have meaningful opportunities to influence programme design, contribute to decisions and help determine the solutions that affect their lives.
Refugee leadership is not an additional feature of humanitarian action. It is an important part of building responses that recognise people’s abilities, experiences and aspirations.
Trust is built through everyday relationships
Social cohesion is not created by a single event or intervention. It develops through relationships, consistent engagement and opportunities for people to understand one another.
Where refugees, IDPs and host communities face shared challenges, practical activities can provide a starting point for cooperation.
Farming initiatives, vocational training and community engagement can create spaces where people learn alongside one another rather than being defined by their differences.
This does not mean that tensions will automatically disappear. Communities have different experiences, needs and concerns, and these must be taken seriously.
Building trust requires listening, patience and consistent engagement. It also requires local organisations to understand the communities they serve and to create opportunities for people to participate without feeling excluded or overlooked.
Local actors often have valuable knowledge of community relationships, cultural contexts, languages and everyday realities. This understanding can help inform approaches that are responsive to local circumstances.
However, trust must be built and maintained. It cannot be assumed simply because an organisation is present in a community.
Addressing misinformation with responsible communication
Misinformation can make an already difficult situation more challenging.
When people do not understand why refugees are living in their communities or how humanitarian assistance is provided, rumours and negative perceptions can emerge. These misunderstandings may create tension and deepen divisions.
Addressing misinformation requires more than correcting individual statements. Communities need reliable information and opportunities to discuss their concerns openly and respectfully.
Community dialogue and awareness campaigns can help people understand displacement, learn about available assistance and hear directly from refugees and host community members.
Responsible communication is particularly important in humanitarian settings. Information should be accurate, respectful and sensitive to the circumstances of the people involved.
Refugees must also have opportunities to share their own perspectives. Their stories and experiences should not be represented only by external organisations or other people speaking on their behalf.
Communication should help people understand one another, not reinforce stereotypes or expose individuals to unnecessary risks.
At EHHOP, we recognise the importance of approaches that amplify marginalised voices and encourage meaningful community participation.
What governments and international organisations need to recognise
Local organisations are often closely connected to the communities in which they work. They understand the cultural context, relationships and practical challenges that shape local responses.
This knowledge can make them important partners in efforts to strengthen protection, livelihoods, inclusion and social cohesion.
Yet local organisations cannot sustain their work through goodwill alone.
They need reliable and sustainable funding, opportunities to strengthen their capacities, meaningful participation in decision-making and partnerships that recognise their contributions.
Support for local organisations should therefore extend beyond public recognition. It should include opportunities to participate in programme planning, influence priorities and help shape decisions affecting the communities they serve.
Refugee-led organisations must also be recognised as partners with relevant knowledge and leadership—not simply as implementing organisations expected to deliver activities designed by others.
Governments and international humanitarian actors have an important role in making this possible.
Investing in local leadership can help strengthen the relationship between community needs, humanitarian responses and longer-term development efforts.
This is not about replacing the responsibilities of governments or international organisations. It is about ensuring that local actors and displaced communities have a meaningful place in the decisions and partnerships that affect them.
Moving from short-term assistance to lasting dignity
Humanitarian assistance remains essential when people face displacement and hardship. But sustainable welcome requires us to look beyond immediate needs.
We must also consider whether people are included in decisions, whether host communities receive appropriate support, whether relationships are strengthening and whether local organisations have the resources to continue their work.
These questions help shift attention from assistance alone towards participation, dignity and shared responsibility.
For EHHOP, the central lesson from Dr. Yvonne Ndaga’s experience is clear: when refugees are included in decisions affecting their lives, host communities are supported, and local organisations are trusted and adequately resourced, stronger foundations for peaceful and inclusive communities can emerge.
There is no single solution that will address every community’s challenges. Progress requires listening to the people concerned, understanding local realities and creating partnerships that value the contributions of everyone involved.
A shared responsibility for the future
A welcoming community is not one where everyone has the same experiences or faces the same challenges. It is one where differences are acknowledged, people are treated with dignity and opportunities exist for everyone to contribute.
Refugees should be able to exercise leadership. Host communities should not be overlooked. Local organisations should have the resources and influence needed to support sustainable solutions.
These are not separate priorities. They are connected parts of a more inclusive approach to humanitarian action.
At Endam Home of Hope, we remain committed to supporting refugees, displaced people and vulnerable communities through approaches that value dignity, participation, empowerment and community well-being.
The question we must continue to ask is not only how we welcome people today, but how we work together to create communities where people can participate, rebuild and contribute to a shared future.
Sustainable welcome begins with dignity. It grows through trust and becomes stronger when local leadership is recognised, supported and given room to thrive.
About Endam Home of Hope
Endam Home of Hope (EHHOP) is a refugee-led, women-led organisation established in Nigeria in 2018. The organisation works with refugees, internally displaced persons, women, children and vulnerable communities through initiatives focused on protection, skills development, livelihoods, empowerment and community integration.
Website: https://endamhomeofhope.org/
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