Est, Gayeri: “The king has a large number of people who are under his responsibility, they are internally displaced due to attacks in the surrounding villages, we help them in many ways financially and materially. Any foreigner who wants to settle here must notify the king before settling with his family. However, if this person does not have land to settle, the king is responsible for giving it to him.”

Sahel, Bani: "There are also people in need who go to the religious authorities to explain their situation and they ask for contributions from people of good will to help them, especially financially or with food."

Sahel, Dori: "I am an Imam as well as a Koranic teacher. In addition to leading all the prayers in the mosque, I teach the children to read the Koran. "

Centre-Nord, Boulsa: "In terms of health, we often contribute at the mosque to treat displaced people. [...] The health centres are full of sick people due to the massive arrival of IDPs in our municipality.”

Tillabéri, Abala: "As far as security is concerned, I am a member of the peace committee. In this capacity, I am involved by the authorities to pass on to the people of my village, messages relating to the decisions they take. These are mainly decisions taken by the administrative and military authorities in the context of security and protection of the population. This was the case when the government decided to introduce a state of emergency and to ban the use of motorbikes. When the decision was taken and voted by the national assembly, the prefect called all the village chiefs to ask them to inform their populations about the measures. We are also asked to intervene to strengthen collaboration between the population and the authorities and also to collect and collate information."

Tillabéri, Abala: "The clerics are the ones who have done the heavy lifting by showing from the start that violent extremism is not due to Islam."

Gao, Gabero: “The state is absent. (…) The only ones who reside in the villages are the traditional and religious authorities. They are very often the basis of all the information that we and the other partners have.”

Est, Gayeri: “For the recruitment of volunteers they passed by the traditional authorities who helped them with a certain number of young people who volunteered and who know the zone better.”

Est, Kantchari: “Religious authorities can help the community to deal with violence and violent armed actors by holding regular prayer meetings, raising awareness in places of worship and on local radio. As for traditional authorities, they can perform rituals to implore the protection of the ancestors.”

Sahel, Dori: "The traditional and religious authorities are working in synergy to carry out preventive actions by insisting on raising awareness of the dangers in our region and more specifically in our commune. These dangers in the face of this security threat are, among others, the division between communities, the fracture of social cohesion and the questioning of living together. We are carrying out these actions with youth groups on how to resist the indecent proposals of certain extremist groups who could make them illusionary promises. "

Tillabéri, Bankilare: "It is the tribal chiefs and group leaders who manage conflicts. When a conflict exceeds their competence, they refer the case to the gendarmerie because there is no court in Bankilaré. The court is in Téra. It is rare that people want to go as far as Téra. That is why, generally, when the chiefs decide on a conflict, people try to be satisfied with their decisions.

Tillabéri, Bankilare: "According to the nature of the conflict, the degree of seriousness and the choice of the conflicting parties, the traditional authorities conciliate between the conflicting parties. The prefectoral and municipal authorities often play a mediation role in conflicts. When the first two levels of settlement do not work, the case is referred to the gendarmerie, because in Bankilaré there is no justice yet. It is extremely rare that a conflict goes to court in Téra.

Tillabéri, Abala: "The gendarmerie has exclusive jurisdiction over criminal disputes (physical confrontation). The justice system deals with conflicts that go beyond the gendarmerie."

Est, Gayeri: "For the management of conflicts between herders and farmers, and land issues, it is the traditional and religious authorities who deal with them, and to a lesser extent the town hall."

Est, Bogande: "As far as the customary people are concerned, it is not easy with two kings in the same commune, but when a conflict falls within their competence, for example conflicts related to the exploitation of land, we try to involve them, we try to see which king's supporters are in conflict and we bring these people to this king and so on.

Sahel, Pissila: "We always favour dialogue and consultation because these are the only ways to resolve a conflict without offending anyone's sensibilities. However, if there is any opposition, we ask the administrative authorities such as the Prefect and the Mayor to intervene. " 

Tillabéri, Ayerou: "At the town hall, the traditional authorities are de facto members. They take part in the sessions of the town council where we discuss the orientation of the investment of the commune's resources"

Tillabéri, Abala: "In the current situation, the management of resources such as land, fields, passage corridors, wells, is completely out of our hands because we can no longer leave the town to manage these resources. The armed groups control everything."

Ménaka, Tidermene: "Quite frankly the biggest crisis my family and I have faced in the last five years was the fact that in the last year there was a lack of rain and the fields were not cultivated because of the rainfall deficit. The village chief has been approached by the farmers and on his part has made pleas to the partners for assistance in this regard."

Sahel, Boulsa: “The difficulties that we have are that we have very few resources to be able to satisfy the demand, especially with the massive presence of IDPs; and this reality puts us in a situation of insecurity insofar as it is the end that justifies the means, which means that if these IDPs do not have enough to eat that can lead them to accept all kinds of proposals ”