Attachments
Situation
The Shelter/NFIs Cluster has been active since 2018 for the Northwest Southwest regions of Cameroon together with 7 other clusters to support the response to the ongoing crisis in both regions. The cluster in NWSW is led by UNHCR. The Cluster has 25 members who participate in Cluster meetings. During the first four months of the year, only 10 organizations have reported funding for activities that are part of the Shelter Cluster’s strategy. In 2022, the security situation in the Northwest and Southwest Regions has continued to be unstable. In reviewing the last three years of incidents of violence against civilians and number of victims during the first quarter of 2022, there seems to be a decline in both the number of victims and incidents as compared to 2020 and 2021. Nevertheless, such incidents occur on a near weekly basis and almost daily basis in the Northwest region.
The homes of residents of the Northwest and Southwest regions are often targeted by both State Security Forces (SSF) and NonState Armed Groups (NSAGs). In addition to documentation done by Amnesty International and the BBC, the Shelter Cluster has further documented that homes are targeted for destruction by both perpetrators to the conflict. According to a recent Shelter assessment conducted by Plan International during December 2021- January 2022, 58% of returnees and 38% of non-displaced in the Northwest region and 44% of returnees and 44% non-displaced in the Southwest region (Plan assessment) reported that their shelters had been damaged. The Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing has designated a name for the systematic and deliberate destruction of homes during or after violent conflict with the intent of causing further suffering known as domicide.
The Shelter Cluster will continue to document the scale of this phenomenon within the Northwest and Southwest regions while implementing this year’s strategy. That this practice is a feature of the conflict is also testimony to the fact that lack of adequate shelter is causing a significant proportion of the human suffering in the Northwest and Southwest regions.