Humanitarian Context
The North-West and South-West (NWSW) Crisis which started as a peaceful protest in 2016 and 20171 in Cameroon has now deeply affected the humanitarian situation in these regions, resulting in the internal displacement of 638 000 people.
The population in NWSW regions continue to suffer the consequences of violent incidents, either being targeted directly or being caught in crossfire, explosions of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), or military raids. Fighting continued in some areas between State security forces (SSF) and non-State armed groups (NSAGs).
Destruction of property, arbitrary arrests, kidnappings for ransom, and extortion of money continued to be perpetrated by parties and criminal groups (NSAG), and among different NSAG factions2. Consequent increase in pressure on the already inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructures and further increases the risk of outbreaks.
The SW region has experience three cholera epidemics between 2019-2022 and has to date 6,029 cumulative cases, 92 deaths and the case fatality rate is 1.53 per cent. Cholera remains of great concern for the SW region as the risk factors associated with the outbreak, including the degrading situation of access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene have not been improved.
-
The Humanitarian needs overview (HNO) 2023 for Cameroon estimates that 1.1 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in water, sanitation and hygiene are affected by the NWSW crisis. This represents 61 per cent of the people in need of humanitarian WASH assistance in the country.
-
The 2023 MSNA round 8 shows that access to safe drinking water remains the first top priority in the NW and SW regions.
-
An assessment conducted in 2022 by the ministry of water resources and energy (MINEE) and the WASH Cluster shows that 51 per cent of water points assessed in the SW region are non-functional. This situation seems similar in the NW region according to WASH partners.
-
Regarding sanitation, although open defecation is low (3 per cent) according to the MSNA round 8, 81 per cent of assessed villages utilized pit latrines without slab.
-
More floods and landslides hit NWSW regions as the rainy season returns.
-
The crisis has resulted in a system-wide breakdown of services and infrastructure in the most affected areas.