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Cameroon: North-West and South-West - Situation Report No. 22 (As of 31 August 2020)

Attachments

AUGUST 2020 HIGHLIGHTS

• Attacks on education actors have been reported in the North-West and South-West regions with a teacher killed on 10 August and a student injured on 11 August by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) for participating in the general certificate exams (GCE).

• Based on the 2019 trends, attacks on education actors might rise in the weeks before and after school reopening on 5 October. The education cluster and OCHA are advocating to ensure that learning is not used as a political tool in the crisis.

• In total 245,911 people received food security assistance in August 2020.

• The 16 mobile clinics funded by CERF since 1 July 2019 will close at the end of September 2020 due to lack of additional funding. During August 10,249 patients, 5 percent of whom live with disabilities, received lifesaving primary healthcare from these services.

• 94 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the North-West and South-West regions in August 2020. 15 percent of the 110 children identified with SAM did not receive the required assistance due to low coverage of SAM treatment in the two regions.

• Protection monitors issued 80 flash alerts related to incidents including deadly attacks on civilians, burning of houses, kidnapping, arbitrary arrests and other serious protection violations against civilians in August 2020.

• 567 Gender Based Violence (GBV) incidents were reported, with survivors receiving assistance, in August 2020 in the two regions.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

The situation in the North-West and South-West (NWSW) regions of Cameroon deteriorated in August compared to the previous three months with an upsurge in violence and attacks against civilians. Non -State armed groups (NSAGs) have increased the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) with increasing numbers of civilian casualties. The deteriorating security situation has resulted in multiple population displacements across the NWSW with over 11,718 people forced to flee their homes to seek shelter in nearby bushes and villages. The NW region has been more affected with over 10,200 displaced people. These movements are often temporary and the displaced return to their homes once the security situation allows.

Attacks on education continued this month as NSAGs attempted to prevent teachers and students taking part in the general certificate education examination (GCE). On 10 August, armed men killed a teacher in Nkwen, Bamenda (Mezam division) and threw his body in a river. On 11 August, NSAG attempted to abduct a student returning from writing the GCE in Bamenda. She was shot in the leg as she escaped.

The month of August was marked by increased targeting of humanitarians by NSAGs hampering the ability of organisations to provide life-saving services. On 5 August, NSAGs interrupted a food distribution at a site in the Muyuka subdivision (SW) and a beneficiary was injured by a gunshot. Later that same day, two aid workers were shot in the legs and arms by NSAGs in the Muyuka subdivision. On 7 August, a humanitarian aid worker working for a local NGO in Batibo subdivision, was abducted from his home and later killed allegedly by NSAG fighters. On 18 and 19 August, an aid organization in KupeMuanenguba (SW) was sealed by the Divisional Officer (administrative authority) and the Commissioner for public security and three staff of the organization were held in overnight detention. On 27 August, NSAG fighters abducted four staff of an Map of IDP, Returnees and Refugees from the North-West and South-West Regions of Cameroon Source: OCHA, UNHCR, IOM The boundaries and names shown, and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
CAMEROON: North-West and South-West, Situation Report No. 22 | 3 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.unocha.org aid organization at Kurabi (Batibo subdivision, Momo division). The Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim issued an statement on 8 August condemning the killing of the aid worker. This incident happened barely a month after the killing of a community health worker in the South-West. The Humanitarian Coordinator called all armed actors to refrain from any attacks or obstruction of aid workers and humanitarian agencies on whose assistance so many lives depend. OCHA has continued to advocate for humanitarian access.

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