The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) recently announced that funds to support displaced people in Chad and Cameroon are now critically low.
The fight against insurgents in Cameroon’s Far North has worsened the already-delicate economic situation in the country, with the UNHCR launching an appeal for U.S.$59.6 million to provide emergency support to 100,000 refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), and host communities.
With refugees and IDPs particularly vulnerable to hunger and food insecurity, the UNHCR appeal is in tandem with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) two.
‘End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture’, the SDG two read.
The supplementary appeal by the UN agency follows intercommunal violence in the border village of Ouloumsa between herders, fishermen and farmers over dwindling water resources.
The violence, which started on 05 December, 2021, has resulted in the killing of 44 people, with over 100 injured, and 112 villages burnt to the ground.
According to the UN refugee agency, in the space of two weeks, tens of thousands of people displaced by the conflict within Cameroon have fled into neighbouring Chad or were displaced.
The United Nations (UN) Global Humanitarian Overview 2022 shows that $371.5 million is needed to support 2.8 million people impacted by the conflict in Cameroon’s Far North, the Lake Chad basin conflict and the refugee crisis from the Central African Republic (CAR).
The UNHCR said the new appeal will help the agency and its humanitarian and government partners provide vital humanitarian needs, protection and assistance to those displaced by the crisis, over the next six months.
‘UNHCR needs U.S.$59.6 million for urgently needed shelter and core relief items, such as blankets, mats, and mosquito nets. Funds will also cover growing water, sanitation, and hygiene needs’, UNHCR said in a statement.
‘With additional resources, UNHCR will also be able to expand registration, profiling, and protection monitoring activities in Cameroon and Chad, to better assess the needs of those affected by the crisis’.
Cameroon’s Far North region has been beset by climate change, resulting in droughts, water scarcity and rising temperature.
The Lake Chad, which borders and supplies water to Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon, has diminished by 90 percent, according to the UN. This has added to the water conflict between herders and farmers and also exacerbated migration.
Source: UNHCR
Photo source: UNHCR
