North West South West
2023-07 Factsheet - North West South West
Highlights
Shelter Cluster partners reached 5410 people from 926 households during the month of July.
After the initial displacement of approximately 600 households from Big Babanki (Kejum Keku) and Belo villages in Tubah Subdivision at the end of June, Shelter Cluster partners mobilized to support them with the distribution of in-kind NFI kits by the end of the month.
The Shelter Cluster launched its process to put in place a contingency plan.
Landslides damaged homes that were built in areas not suitable for building in Limbe Town highlighting the regions’ continued vulnerability to natural disasters.
NFI
Shelter
Coverage against targets
Need analysis
The Shelter Cluster is still struggling to respond quickly in emergency situations. This is due to the lack of clarity on which agencies have which contingency stock and the delay in release of items to areas impacted by emergency. In addition, partners need to find a way to quickly collaborate on household level profiling to confirm the scale of displacement and confirm Shelter needs.
Shelter Cluster partners continue to lack access to some of the areas most heavily impacted by crisis. While Shelter Cluster partners were able to respond to a surge in displacement due to the fact that the displacement was towards Bamenda, IDPs displaced in Kupé-Manengumba went without attention. Equally, humanitarian actors rushed to conduct assessments in Limbe after landslides. This can create a risk of inequality and unevenness in the response to the conflict affected IDPs. Advocacy and support are required to enable the government to respond adequately in natural disaster situations, while advocacy on access is needed for those who are directly impacted by conflict where access to assistance is more limited. Equally, longer-term development issues caused by the crisis were exposed again after the Limbe landslides, as the mayor’s office asked the local population to relocate from high-risk areas where shelters had been constructed. These shelters were vulnerable to landslide risk but were relatively more affordable for construction. Households lacked a suitable alternative. The phenomenon has been exacerbated by the current crisis as IDPs who lack purchasing power for more suitable housing construct their shelters in these areas. The Shelter Cluster has mapped these locations and noticed that the problem is particularly acute in major urban areas of Buea, Limbe, Tiko, Kumba, Douala, Dschang, Bafoussam 3, Bamenda 3, Mamfe, Kumbo, and Bagangté subdivisions. This phenomenon highlights for Shelter Cluster partners the need to plan for humanitarian-development nexus projects that work with authorities to solve some of these longer-term issues that put IDPs at further risk.
Response
Northwest
- UNHCR's partners continued a needs assessment to measure the shelter vulnerability of households to inform programming.
- Several Shelter Cluster partners worked together to meet the NFI needs of approximately 600 households who were displaced from Big Babanki and Belo in Tubah Division. 550 households were assisted with in-kind NFI kits while 10 of those households received mattresses.
- CRS delivered the top-up of voucher amount for 1882 households in addition to sensitization to beneficiaries and discussion about their current challenges. 90 of these households were displaced from Big Babanki. The NFI items that they purchase will be reported in the coming months. Due to insecurity, an addition 133 households were not reached with assistance.
- IRC is planning on reaching an additional 52 households with NFI support who were displaced from Big Babanki.
- SHUMAS completed covering the rental assistance of IDP students who were living in Bambili. Overall the project provided shelter to 21 IDPs including several students who had children.
- SHUMAS continued providing rental assistance to 15 vulnerable IDP students in Bamenda 3.
Southwest
- UNHCR's partners continued needs assessment to measure the shelter vulnerability of households to inform programming. UNHCR's partners begun a needs assessment to measure the shelter vulnerability of households to inform programming.
- NRC completed the distribution of emergency shelter kits and NFIs in Matondo 2 village in Kumba for 295 households. Plastic plates and plastic spoons in the NFI kit were replaced with stainless steel plates and spoons.
- Intersos completed distributions to 71 vulnerable IDPs and host communities in Tiko and Kumba 2. Several of the distributions involved sensitization with beneficiaries on re-use of items after the end of life span and how to dispose of solid waste.
- IRC is continuing to prepare NFIs in Konye and Kumba 2.
Gaps / challenges
A gap in this past month has been the fact that partners don't have the capacity to respond quickly when new displacements arise. This is due to the fact that the Cluster lacks a rapid response mechanism and stock that is readily available in Bamenda. Cash and voucher programs take Cluster partners at least three to four weeks to establish, and NFI items often have to be procured from Douala, this slows the Cluster's response when responding to new displacements. The Shelter Cluster is currently working on putting in place a contingency plan in order to increase its capacity in preparedness.
As the Cluster continues to implement activities in the year, it is noted that Cluster partners still need to reinforce their capacity in shelter programming. Many partners are able to distribute items and cash, but are not able to adequately put in place the technical assistance and support programming required to achieve shelter outcomes.
