Attachments
Country's Director Forward
The prolonged nature of the three crises affecting Cameroon (in the Far North and Lake Chad basin area, in the Northwest and Southwest regions and neighboring regions, in the East and Adamawa regions), together with the lack of humanitarian funding, brings Cameroon in the ranking of the most neglected crisis for several consecutive years, and to a low coverage rate of HRP with only 36,4% as of August 2024. This situation leaves hundreds of thousands of people without lifesaving assistance and protection services.
On 16th September 2024, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) issued a press release urgently calling for increased international support to provide relief to the most vulnerable after severe floods hitting most vulnerable in the Lake Chad Basin. In fact, the Far North region of Cameroon is experiencing the most devastating rainy season since 1990, affecting more than 365.000 people and destroying thousands of homes and hectares of crops among others. Humanitarian access is all the more affected, limiting humanitarian actors’ response. The highlights of NRC - Cameroon over the period from May to August 2024, includes the participation in a high level lobby tour organized and supported by NRC representation offices in Brussels and Geneva in June, with the purpose of meeting stakeholders, present the 2023 neglected crisis report and raise awareness about the situation in Cameroon. NRC also actively participated in the ceremony to present the mid-term results of the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Multi-Year Resilience Program in Cameroon in June, where joint efforts of the various partners had a significant impact in the 64 target communes, reaching 227,000 children. In addition, NRC took part in the celebration of the 58th International Literacy Day (ILD) by hosting a stand to present the impact of its achievements through its Education in Emergency (EiE) program, such as the Accelerated Education Program (AEP) and the Better Learning Program (BLP) implemented in the Far North, Northwest and Southwest regions of the country. On another hand, this year's celebration of World Refugee Day provided an opportunity for high-level collaboration with partners on a wonderful joint initiative to organise a photo exhibition and a hybrid round table with protection and gender related issues experts, to better understand the challenges faced by refugees and the mechanisms in place to promote durable solutions.
In July, Hamadou Hassane, the Regional Director, visited Cameroon. During this first visit as Regional Director, he was impressed by the work done in the field, and also have the opportunity to talk with the people we serve to have an idea about the impact of our work, their daily lives and the challenges they face. As NRC is operating an important transition towards the “greening the orange” initiative, I am very proud of the fact that NRC Cameroon successfully switched the Maroua office to solar energy. This shift will definitely be helpful in reducing costs, mitigate risks, and lower NRC’s carbon footprint while ensuring that we provide more reliable and environmentally friendly aid to people forced to flee. This fifth edition of the NRC Cameroon newsletter is another opportunity to acknowledge the engagement of our colleagues on the ground, for their continuous commitment to work objectively, independently and without bias, in line with our core mission of protecting the rights of displaced people during crisis. On behalf of our team in Maroua, Bamenda, Batouri, Buea, Kousseri and Yaoundé, I am grateful to our donors and partners support in giving hope to displacement-affected populations across the country.
Enjoy reading!
Elena VICARIO Country Director - NRC Cameroon