Change care Foundation reaching out to Internally displaced persons(IDPs) the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon.
The ongoing crisis in the NW and SW Regions of Cameroon has caused refugee flows into neighboring countries such as Nigeria. According to UNHCR 20.000 thousand refugees have registered with UNHCR as of April 2018. In addition, there are 160.000 displaced persons in the NW and SW regions of Cameroon. The figures are now much higher especially given the burning down of homes, towns and villages. IDPs are hiding in the forests, bushes, caves and hills.
Following the rising and enormous effects of this crisis on the displaced population, CCF took interest to provide emergency humanitarian supports necessary and critical for the survival and safety of families displaced from various villages/Towns within the North West and South-West Regions of Cameroon. On this note, CCF is embarking on series of projects, ranging from distribution of food and non-food items to provision of shelter and health care services, just to name a few.
In April 2018, this project phase was designed and has begun with ten IDPs families o in villages within the North West and South West Region. Bamenda Nkwen, Mankon, Kom, Ndop, Banso, Nkambe, Muyuka, Ekona , Kumba, Buea, Mamfe.
The Challenges
The challenges that Internally displaced persons(IDPs) face? People forced to flee or leave their homes – particularly in situations of armed conflict – are generally subject to heightened vulnerability in a number of areas. Displaced persons suffer significantly higher rates of mortality than the general population.They also remain at high risk of physical attack, sexual assault and abduction, and frequently are deprived of adequate shelter, food and health services.
The overwhelming majority of internally displaced persons are women and children who are especially at risk of abuse of their basic rights. More often than refugees, the internally displaced tend to remain close to or become trapped in zones of conflict, caught in the cross-fire and at risk of being used as pawns, targets or human shields by the belligerents.
It is often logistically challenging to provide humanitarian assistance to IDPs. A majority of them do not live in camps, but are dispersed among local communities, making it difficult to identify IDP populations and their needs. IDPs may also be inaccessible to humanitarian organisations due to factors such as their fear of being identified by authorities, or their continuous movement from place to place.
Displacement has a particularly traumatic impact on children, often placing them in high-risk circumstances that put them in idpsneed of specific protection measures. Many internally displaced children lose access to education, and many are also at risk of sexual violence or forced recruitment into armed groups.
Context-specific factors, which can significantly affect the success of interventions for IDPs. These include the capacity and willingness of national and local institutions to receive aid for IDPs or the accessibility of legal and protective institutions; and factors specific to the internally displaced population, such as the resources and social capital of the displaced, or the presence of pre-existing vulnerabilities.
We work in areas in of humanitarian crises by helping people seriously affected by conflict and disaster. Our specific area of focus in this regard is the thousands of people displaced from their homes and communities by the two-year old conflict in the NW and SW Regions of Cameroon, the neglected conflict area in Africa but which also deserves humanitarian intervention.
We support refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) with
medication
Temporary shelter
Water supply
Sanitation facilities
Food
Psycho-social counseling
Educational supplies for and effective teaching for displaced children
Family and community resettlement
Family reconstitution
Community reconstruction
Reconciliation and harmonious community living.
Business set up
Library creation
Temporary shelter
Water supply
Sanitation facilities
Food
Psycho-social counseling
Educational supplies for and effective teaching for displaced children
Family and community resettlement
Family reconstitution
Community reconstruction
Reconciliation and harmonious community living.
Business set up
Library creation