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Cameroon + 2 more

UNICEF Cameroon Humanitarian Situation Report, May 2018

Attachments

Highlights

  • Emergency Response Plan for North West and South West regions was launched on May 27 to assist 160,000 displaced persons in these two Anglophone regions with the total budget of $15.1 million.

  • Cameroon suffered two new outbreaks of infectious diseases in May: cholera and monkeypox. Three cases of cholera were reported in the North region on May 22. No cases have occurred since then. Alarmingly, 16 cases of monkeypox were recorded in North West, South West, Central East and Far North region. UNICEF is supporting the prevention activities through the provision of supplies and social mobilization.

  • To prevent violent exploitation of children, 35 new adolescent clubs have been put in place in Far North region with 1,114 adolescents benefiting from resilience and peace building activities, and educative sessions on other important issues for the protection of children.

Situation in Numbers
May 2018
1,810,000
# of children in need of humanitarian assistance
3,260,000
# of people in need
(Cameroon Humanitarian Needs Overview 2018)
Displacement 241,000 #of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
(Displacement Tracking Matrix 12, Dec 2017)
69,700 # of Returnees
(Displacement Tracking Matrix 12, Dec 2017)
93,100 # of Nigerian Refugees in rural areas
(UNHCR Cameroon Fact Sheet, April 2018)
238,700 # of CAR Refugees in East, Adamaoua and North regions in rural areas
(UNHCR Cameroon Fact Sheet, April 2018)

UNICEF Appeal 2018 US$ 25.4 million

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).