Cameroon: Internally Displaced People, Paths to Stability

Context

Attacks by armed groups have multiplied, forcing thousands of families to flee their villages and seek refuge in extremely precarious conditions. Faced with this reality, Première Urgence Internationale and its local partners are stepping in to provide vital assistance to the displaced, like Safiya Ali and her children. 

Fleeing the threat

“A group of men attacked a neighboring village, then came to our village. We took refuge in the bush, then continued fleeing as far as Dougoumachi with a few belongings,” recounts Safiya Ali, a 32-year-old mother of four. Separated from the father of her children, she is the sole carer for her family.  

Originally from Koussouna, in the Logone et Chari department, she lost everything in the attack: “They took all our oxen, goats, sheep and a few belongings, so we had almost nothing left…”. Arriving in Dougoumachi, she and other displaced people built makeshift straw shelters and tried to survive by selling firewood, an increasingly scarce resource.  

Life at the displacement site is extremely precarious. Water is drawn from boreholes or taken from the river, and the lack of sanitary infrastructure exposes people to serious health problems.   

Against this backdrop, where insecurity is forcing thousands of people to leave their homes, Première Urgence Internationale is deploying the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) in partnership with local civil society organizations CADEPI and Tammounde Speranza. This program aims to provide rapid, integrated assistance in the form of shelter, basic necessities, water, hygiene, sanitation and food security.  

Rebuilding for real

Thanks to this intervention, Safiya and many other families have been able to regain some form of stability: “The Première Urgence teams gave me wood, tarpaulins, ropes and bundles of spikes which I used to build my shelter. I was also given a sum of money to carry out the work. I received a pickaxe, a shovel, cooking pots, mosquito nets, a fireplace and underwear”.  

Première Urgence Internationale also built 44 emergency latrine blocks and 88 emergency shower doors, giving 880 people access to sanitary facilities and drinking water. 40 family latrine doors were installed for host households who had none. At the same time, 7 boreholes were rehabilitated to improve access to water.