Cameroon
2023-09 Factsheet - Cameroon
Highlights
According to last data collected by IOM during the Multisectoral Needs Assessment a total of 1,2 M people need adequate shelter and household items. Domicide - that is the intentionally burning of properties to deprive people of their right to housing -affected almost 10,000 families in Cameroon so far.
KEY MESSAGES
- By the end of 2023 if additional support is not provided then 440,000 vulnerable people out of the 700,000 planned to be assisted will be left unsheltered or in inadequate shelter, will experience degradation of their health condition, food insecurity, discrimination, violence.
- Increase in qualitative funding for a qualitative shelter and NFI response that satisfy people in need. Qualitative funding means flexible, timely, multi-year, local and traceable.
- Funds reduction does not necessarily impact the number of households assisted rather the quality of assistance.
- Hire specialized staff for the implementation of alternative shelter solutions in remote challenging contexts.
NFI
Shelter
Need analysis
The Shelter Sector was able to analyze the severity of the situation of non-displaced, returnees, and internally displaced populations in the Far North, North-West, South-West, West and Littoral regions, based on July and August 2022 IOM and OCHA Multi Sectoral Needs Assessment data.
In Cameroon a total of 1,813,757 people needs adequate shelter and household items.
Approximately 830,000 of them are in the Far North region where a surge in inter-communal violence in mid-2021 and continuous attacks at the Nigerian border contributed to an increase in displacement. Shelter needs have been further exacerbated by severe flooding in September 2022 with an exceptional destruction of infrastructures. The majority of crisis affected people are hosted by other families or are living in makeshift shelters at informal sites with no access to basic services.
Within the North-West and South-West regions, 885,000 people need shelter and household items as violations of human rights continue with the intentional burning of homes, overcrowded shelters with host families and people living in inadequate makeshift shelters in the bush. In the neighboring regions of the Littoral and West, almost 100,000 IDPs need better shelter, as most are either struggling to afford the cost of rent or are living in inadequate shelters with host families who have limited resources.
Response
A total of 155,204 people received NFI assistance and accessed adequate shelter through emergency – transitional – durable interventions.
In the Far North region 11,600 households have been assisted with shelter items/kits and household items while a total of 1,200 households gained access to transitional/emergency shelters and almost 3,000 got their house rehabilitated or reconstructed.
In the NW-SW regions 14,500 households have been assisted items/kits and household items while 2,500 households gained access to shelter through rental support.
Gaps / challenges
- Most of grants received after Q1 – limited capacity to respond to new emergency situations during this period
- Partners funds absorption capacity
- The humanitarian system places a lot of emphasis on delivery and not enough on impact
- Administrative/bureaucratic challenges around NFI/construction material in-kind deliveries (NW-SW regions) so delays up to one month
- Security of tenure security which is crucial for rental support programs
- Lack of awareness that Shelter is integral to the protection of displaced populations, and that poor shelter conditions perpetuate violations of fundamental human rights
- Lack of a stable contingency stock
- Lockdown days, often declared in the aftermath of emergency situations, limit the movement of humanitarian actors to immediately assess and provide relief to affected populations
