Facts
A total of
15,517
people in need received our assistance in 2017.
Humanitarian overview
Thousands of people in the Lake Chad Basin are seeking refuge in Cameroon's Far North region to escape violence by armed group Boko Haram. But Cameroon is, like its neighbours, also heavily affected by the violence that has continued to cause havoc in the Lake Chad region. Since 2014, Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon have caused considerable internal displacement. Nearly 240,000 Cameroonians are internally displaced in the region bordering Nigeria. Cameroon also hosts 230,000 refugees from neighbouring Central African Republic.
Attacks and looting by Boko Haram in the Far North region have created urgent needs among civilians, particularly women and girls. Meanwhile, Cameroon's infrastructure struggles to meet the needs of an increasing number of displaced people. Most internally displaced Cameroonians have sought refuge in informal settlements and with host communities, where they must share limited resources. Many have become victims of sexual or economic exploitation. Most have lost their civil documentation and are not allowed to move around freely.
People we helped in Cameroon in 2017
NRC’s operation
As a response to the growing number of people forced to flee their homes in the Lake Chad Basin area, we opened a new country office in 2017 to reach the people in need.
Our new operation is currently meeting urgent needs among displaced people in conflict areas in the Far North region of Cameroon. But as the operation evolves, we aim to start up education, livelihoods and food security activities.
Information, counselling and legal assistance (ICLA)
Many displaced people have lost their civil documentation. We're identifying challenges related to civil documentation and provide free information, counselling and legal assistance to displaced people and people who have returned home. Our teams:
- visit communities to register cases and counsel displaced people who lack identity documents and birth certificates
- organise group information sessions
- support displaced people with administrative hurdles to provide them access to civil documentation
- support registrar's offices with birth certificate registers
Shelter and settlements
The increasing number of displaced people has created great needs for shelter. We work to ensure that displaced people and those who have returned home have dignified shelters for physical protection. Our teams:
- distribute mosquito nets, blankets, sleeping mats, and tools for farming
- provide emergency shelters for displaced populations in informal settings in acute phases of an emergency
- construct temporary shelters for returnees whose homes were destroyed during the conflict
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) promotion
NRC supports local authorities in operating and maintaining water systems that provide drinking water. Our teams:
- distribute hygiene kits including soap, as well as cloth for filtering water
- repair broken boreholes
- train and support water management committees
- support councils with spare parts and maintenance toolkits for boreholes
- construct emergency and family latrines
- conduct hygiene promotion activities
- Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
- Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA)
- Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO)
