Cameroon Humanitarian Situation Report
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Cameroon Humanitarian Situation Report SITUATION IN NUMBERS May 2018 Highlights • Emergency Response Plan for North West and South West 1,810,000 regions was launched on May 27 to assist 160,000 displaced # of children in need of humanitarian persons in these two Anglophone regions with the total budget of assistance 3,260,000 $15.1 million. # of people in need • Cameroon suffered two new outbreaks of infectious diseases in (Cameroon Humanitarian Needs Overview 2018) May: cholera and monkeypox. Three cases of cholera were reported in the North region on May 22. No cases have occurred Displacement since then. Alarmingly, 16 cases of monkeypox were recorded in 241,000 North West, South West, Central East and Far North region. #of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) (Displacement Tracking Matrix 12, Dec 2017) UNICEF is supporting the prevention activities through the 69,700 provision of supplies and social mobilization. # of Returnees • To prevent violent exploitation of children, 35 new adolescent (Displacement Tracking Matrix 12, Dec 2017) clubs have been put in place in Far North region with 1,114 93,100 # of Nigerian Refugees in rural areas adolescents benefiting from resilience and peace building (UNHCR Cameroon Fact Sheet, April 2018) activities, and educative sessions on other important issues for 238,700 the protection of children. # of CAR Refugees in East, Adamaoua and North regions in rural areas (UNHCR Cameroon Fact Sheet, April 2018) UNICEF’s Response with Partners UNICEF Appeal 2018 Sector UNICEF US$ 25.4 million *Total results are all cumulative Sector Total UNICEF Total Target Results* Target Results* Funding status (US$) WASH : People provided with access 528,000 9,165 75,000 8,907 to appropriate sanitation Funds received: Education: School-aged children 4-17, including adolescents, accessing $2.6M 411,000 11,314 280,000 11,314 education in a safe and protective learning environment. Carry-over: Nutrition : Number of children aged 6- $2.1M (8%) 59 months with SAM admitted for 38,646 17,863 40,482 18,885 treatment Required: Child Protection : Children reached $25.5M with psychosocial support through 85,636 85,000 22,456 child friendly/safe spaces C4D : Persons reached with information about WASH / health / Funding gap : nutrition / education services 235,913 138,911 $20.8M (82%) (behavior/best practices) through community-based social mobilization and/or outreach activities Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs A funding appeal, Emergency Response Plan for the North West and South West Regions, has been published on 27 May with a required budget of $15 million to provide an initial assistance for three months to 160,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Meme and Manyu divisions in the South West, and Boyo, Momo, and Ngo-Ketunjia divisions in the North West. UNICEF is finalising agreements with partners through whom it will implement projects in child protection, health and water and sanitation as well as nutritional screening. Communication for Development (C4D) will reinforce these projects through social mobilisation and community engagement. Two new epidemics were confirmed in Cameroon this month: monkeypox and cholera. Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms in humans similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although less severe. The National Emergency Operation Centre for this epidemic was activated on 15 May after one case was confirmed on 14 May. During the second week of transmission, the infection has spread to the regions of Central, East and Far North. As of 30 May, a total of 16 cases have been recorded, of which one was confirmed, 10 tested negative for monkeypox (however, four of them tested positive for chickenpox). The main challenges are: 1) insecurity in the two regions due to the Anglophone crisis which forced many people to live in the bush, and 2) geographically hard-to-reach health districts. UNICEF is working with partners to integrate the messages on the monkeypox infection and how to prevent the infection into the Essential Family Practices (EFPs) messaging. Three suspected cases of cholera were reported in two health areas (Guirviza and Doumo) of Mayo Oulo health district (137,214 inhabitants) in North region with one case confirmed in Guirviza health area, with no fatalities. Since 22 May, there has been no new suspected case recorded. The Ministry of Health (MOH) Emergency Cluster has been activated both at central and regional levels and a response plan developed. To reinforce prevention activities, UNICEF has additionally provided cholera prevention items to Mayo Oulo health district, which have been allocated to the affected areas. UNICEF is working closely with the health district of Mayo Oulo and the Regional Delegation of Public Health of North region to support the social mobilization on cholera prevention. A field mission is being conducted from 30 May – 1 June to identify gaps in terms of preventive activities and response. Needs assessment was conducted by UNICEF in Amchide and Limani, localities of Mayo Sava department, Far North region, along the border with Nigeria. As these areas suffered attacks by Boko Haram, significant destruction was observed, and strong needs were identified in terms of education, health and child protection for 13,881 people who returned to these villages of origin after taking refuge in the neighboring villages and towns, in addition to 3,500 IDPs and the host populations. In East region, at least 695 people, 55% of whom children (girls representing 55% of these children), crossed the border into Cameroon from the Central African Republic (CAR) in the localities of Gbiti (341), Bombe Pana (150) and Wissambo (204). These people fled the clashes between the UN Mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA)/Central African Armed Forces and the armed group occupying the border areas of two prefectures of Mambere Kadey and Nana Mambere in CAR. An interagency needs assessment was organized with WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF and other humanitarian partners to identify the priority needs. Most have come to join their family members who arrived before them, with whom they share their limited resources. A relatively small number of continuous new arrivals from CAR will add a great pressure on these host families which will lead to precarious and worsening living conditions. The needs identified include food, drinking water, hygiene and sanitation, shelter, psychosocial support and education (especially an accelerated/catch-up program). An interagency response plan is being developed based upon the priority needs identified in the needs assessment in these specific localities. In Garoua Boulai, East region, more than 200 new arrivals from CAR, the majority of them women and children, were pre-listed by UNHCR. According to UNHCR, the number of those fleeing the unrest in Bangui, the capital of CAR, is expected to be much higher because many of these people have spread to other localities including the refugee site of Gado, and other locations in Meiganga (Adamaoua region), Betare Oya or even Bertoua (East region). Estimated Population in Need of Humanitarian Assistance *Cameroon Humanitarian Needs Overview 2018 **SMART Survey 2017 & UNHCR Standardised Expanded Nutrition Survey (SENS) 2016 Start of humanitarian response: November 2013 Total Male Female Total Population in Need* 3,260,000 1,610,000 1,650,000 Children (Under 18)* 1,810,000 915,000 896,000 Children Under Five** 523,000 258,000 265,000 Children 6 to 23 months** 163,000 80,500 82,500 Malnourished Pregnant and 18,000 - 18,000 lactating women** Humanitarian Leadership and Coordination • The Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator leads the overall humanitarian coordination, supported by OCHA. • At the national level, UNICEF and the Government are co-leading the nutrition, WASH and education sectors, as well as the sub-sectoral group for child protection. • At the field level, UNHCR leads inter-sector coordination, which addresses particularly challenges and gaps both for refugees, IDPs and host communities in the Far North. This extends into the coordination of the humanitarian response to the Central African Republic refugee crisis in the regions of the East and Adamawa. UNHCR organizes monthly meetings with other humanitarian actors, to consolidate data and harmonize interventions. Humanitarian Strategy UNICEF’s integrated programme is based on four pillars: building a protective environment and supporting community peacebuilding; preventing and responding to the violent exploitation of children; increasing access to basic services; and strengthening emergency preparedness and response systems. All four pillars bridge the humanitarian-development nexus and foster community resilience to outside pressures, such as conflict or population displacement, while supporting the State to anticipate and respond to shocks. UNICEF aims at strengthening collaboration between community-based structures and government services to provide care and protection to children, particularly the most marginalized. By supporting community dialogue mechanisms, inter-generational dialogue and non-violent relationships among peers, UNICEF works to foster social cohesion, giving children a voice and rebuilding community linkages. Recognizing that lack of access to basic services exposes children to vulnerabilities, UNICEF supports the Government to strengthen the quality of service delivery at the community level by training community workers and establishing needed