North West South West
2022-09 Factsheet - North West South West
Highlights
During the month of September, the Shelter Cluster reached 242 households with NFI assistance particularly in Fundong Subdivision in Boyo Division in the Northwest. Shelter Cluster partners continued shelter support through rental assistance to 114 households at various locations of the Northwest and Southwest. The Shelter Cluster met during two workshops to put in place a standardized post distribution monitoring of shelter interventions. It is also hoped that this tool can be used by other actors who are distributing multipurpose cash. September also marked the month where new data became available from the Multisector Needs Assessment. This data enabled the Shelter Cluster to calculate the # of people in need for internally displaced, returnees, and non-displaced in the regions. A review of the needs is published in a new document on Shelter typologies.
The first half of the month was interrupted by several lockdowns. September marked the second month where lockdowns delayed activities of Shelter Cluster partners. The lockdown and the rumours of lockdown have resulted in the delivery of life-saving assistance Shelter and NFI assistance due to the inability to reach beneficiaries. Several partners had to postpone and reschedule distributions. Shelter and NFI kit distributions were also pushed back towards the end of the month delaying opportunities for Shelter partners to provide technical assistance at the shelter site. The Shelter Cluster’s assistance is also suffering from a domino impact of lockdowns. Distributions that had to be postponed from August due to lockdowns in this month were postponed for a second or third time. It is estimated that the number of people reached in September fell by 82% from July, the last month that there were no lockdowns in the Northwest and Southwest Regions. Partners who are shifting to monetized approaches to improve owner driven solutions were not able to meet with vendors thereby delaying future assistance planned. As shelter provides protection by presence in the locations where internally displaced and returnees have chosen to live, lockdowns are particularly detrimental to both protection and shelter outcomes and put those impacted at the crisis at risk of gender based violence, deteriorating health, overcrowding, and mental health consequences.
NFI(HH)
Shelter(HH)
Coverage against targets
Need analysis
With data coming from the new data collection of the OCHA Multisector Needs Analysis, the Shelter Cluster was able to collect secondary data on the severity analysis of the situation for non-displaced, returnee, and internally displaced populations in the Northwest, Southwest, West and Littoral regions. A detailed over view of the various needs and shelter types and conditions is found in a new publication on Shelter typologies available at this link: https://sheltercluster.org/north-west-south-west/documents/shelter-typologies-and-needs-overview-cameroons-northwest-southwest
In addition to the overall needs and severity of conditions in the regions, the Shelter Cluster's capacity remained limited in comparison with the needs. The figures illustrate that the Shelter Cluster is able to only reach a small fraction of the needs. With the delays posed by lockdowns, Shelter Cluster partners are not able to deliver assistance in a timely manner.
Response
Northwest
- Caritas carried out distributions to 242 households in Fundong Subdivision in Boyo Division. The distribution was challenging due to security conditions and several households are yet to receive their NFI kits. Several communities that were to receive shelter kits were not able to receive them due and the distribution of shelter kits has been postponed until their logistics partner AIRD can get the security clearance.
- 50 households in Sisia village in Bamenda received their cash distributions for cash for rent assistance. NRC is continuing to support the households with monitoring of their shelter conditions and light interventions to ensure that their shelters are adequate. NRC has decided that it has available funds to support an additional 5 households with this program.
- Sister Emmanuel Magdalene Homecare Training Centre continued to support 15 households with rental assistance.
- SHUMAS continued to support 23 IDP students with rental assistance while they seek better livelihood opportunities in communities in Bamenda.
Southwest
- DRC is planning to distribute shelter and NFI kits to 3150 households (600 households in voucher form), Meme and Kupe -Muanenguba Division starting in the month of November and preparatory activities are ongoing.
- NRC is planning to distribute cash for rent for 53 households in Kumba 1 Subdivision in Meme Division.
- Caritas has yet to distribute emergency shelter and NFI kits to 3200 households in Meme and Manyu Divisions.
Gaps / challenges
- The Shelter Cluster's capacity to respond to the needs is limited by funding as not many have realized that the shelter response would mitigate many of the protection issues in the Northwest and Southwest. There is a need to sensitize donors about the need for the shelter response to become more adequate to the shelter needs, which will not be possible without the required resources.
- Shelter Cluster partners are in the most part in a distribution mindset and need to gradually shift to an outcome mindset to improve the quality of the shelter response being delivered. A post distribution monitoring tool is drafted to support partners in ensuring that outcomes are measured thereby also improving accountability to affected populations.
