UN asserts necessity of increasing humanitarian aid to Cameroon

Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said 4.3 million people need humanitarian assistance across Cameroon, adding that it is a 30 per cent increase on last year and it means one Cameroonian in six needs humanitarian assistance and protection with more than half of them are children, Africa 1 Radio reported.

This came in Lowcock statement to the Arria-Formula meeting on the humanitarian situation in Cameroon.

Eight regions out of ten are affected by one of three concurrent humanitarian crises, Lowcock added.

Firstly, in its East and North regions, Cameroon is hosting more than 270,000 Central African Republic refugees, putting a significant burden on host communities who are already very poor and living in fragile and vulnerable conditions, the UN official said.

Secondly, Cameroon’s Far North remains affected by the Lake Chad Basin crisis, one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world. About 1.9 million people living in Cameroon’s Far North – that’s half the population in that part of the country –need urgent assistance. And that includes 100,000 refugees or more, from Nigeria, he added.

“On this note, I would like to recognize the Government of Cameroon, and the people of Cameroon, for their generosity for hosting refugees from neighbouring countries.” he said.

“Thirdly, the humanitarian situation in the North-West and South-West regions has rapidly deteriorated and that is what I want to talk most about today.”

The crisis in the North-West and South-West regions started with peaceful protests in the English-speaking regions but has now turned violent. It was one of the fastest growing displacement crises in Africa last year.