Lili Nikolova has been working with Heartland Alliance International (HAI) for almost five years. Her skills in capacity building, outreach, advocacy, mediation, and trauma-informed care have sent her around the world to various peace-building initiatives, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste. As the Project Director for our Counter-Human Trafficking program in Northeast Nigeria, she uses those skills to help individuals heal and seek justice and to help communities learn how to protect one another.
How did you get into this work?
I was getting a master degree in peace building and conflict resolution at New York University, when I learned of HAI’s work in Iraq. My studies were focused on community dialogue, mediation, and conflict resolution, but HAI’s human rights work really spoke to me.
I quickly grew absorbed by the work. My first big project with HAI was conducting a baseline research study on the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. After this, I implemented a robust anti-torture program in prisons and detention facilities. I stuck around because I saw it was really worth to fight for the human rights of the most underprivileged and marginalized groups and help them seek justice. I spent two and a half years in Iraq, and now I am in Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria, where I have been working since July 2018.
Why is this work important to the community and those we serve?
In our current project, we’re focused on strengthening services for survivors of human trafficking in Northeast Nigeria, including women and children, who have been exploited by non-state armed opposition groups, such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West African Province (ISWAP). This conflict has caused disastrous humanitarian crises affecting not only Nigeria, but neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon – the so-called Lake Chad Basin — and has displaced nearly 2.5 million people.
The work we do here saves lives through strengthening national institutions and building the capacity of social service providers. The stronger the support from national institutions, the more affected communities will be able to survive, heal, and rebuild. That is extremely difficult in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, with so many different factors and actors involved – but we focus on long-term impact and sustainability.
For example, one of the most important elements of fighting human trafficking is raising awareness among the local communities and educate them how to recognize trafficking, that it is present there. We’ve been able to engage community members, medical staff, social workers, law enforcement officers, and communal and religious leaders, in order to train them on how to identify victims of trafficking, and provide proper assistance. We aim to give national actors the chance to save lives and tailor techniques and successful approaches to support and integrate survivors of trafficking back to their communities. In an environment struggling from a lack of education and employment resources, this work becomes highly important.
Was there a moment where you knew you were in the right job?
There are many moments for me; one of them is, of course, when we see the impact of our work. Human rights work is rather indirect and it takes a lot of time to see the effects of it, but when that happens– it’s very rewarding. When I see that, because of our work, someone has had the chance to start a new life – that is very meaningful and makes me forget all the tough times and sacrifices.
More often than not, I appreciate my job through day to day moments. I’m very fortunate to wake up and be enthusiastic about going to work, being able to connect with colleagues to discuss the challenges, and to seek solutions with and learn from the community members.
What is your favorite part of your job?
It is building and investing in human rights advocates in the contexts we work in – “the champions” as a good friend and a former colleague of mine calls them. See, we, as advocates, we are champions for those who are most vulnerable, but it is about seeing those who we work with thrive. What matters is when we can shift the perspective of a few people from the community, or someone with a lot of influence who others look up to, to become human rights advocates themselves. Then they continue the fight and carry the legacy, while empowering others to do the same and stand up for the most vulnerable. I also like to see the slow but steady positive change of systems. Such progress is achieved slowly and often with going though fires, struggles, and disappointment, but it’s usually solid and lasts for a while.
How can others get involved in your work?
So I’ll take a more broad approach on this. We all, as individuals, have impact on the work that we do. Similarly, the work that we do has an impact on us. Humanitarian work starts with ourselves, and that work snowballs into our families, and our communities. The values of humanitarian work – respect, anti-racism, supporting the defenseless – can be found in individuals before they get into this space. You have to harbor those values. If you do that, you are already on your way to becoming an advocate.
I believe that if people want to get into this work, they can do it by following those little passions and if they want they can further develop it into a career; but at the same time – they don’t necessarily have to. You can be a human rights advocate in your everyday life.
