Cameroon/Humanitarian Aid: ILO and Koica provide 5 billion francs for the empowerment of refugees in the East and Adamaoua
The project implemented by the International Labor Organization (ILO), with financial support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica), targets 5,000 beneficiaries, 65% women and 50% refugees. It will revitalize the local economy and social cohesion between refugees and host communities through the development of women's entrepreneurship and the economic empowerment of women in positive agro-ecological value chains.
According to Ousmanou Ahmed, a community health worker with the Association for the Promotion of Peace and Living Together in Mandjou, a locality located about 5 kilometers from the city of Bertoua, the Central African refugees live in precarious conditions.In the area of health, we have observed the presence of several pathologies in these communities (typhoid fever, malaria, gastric illness). Among refugees in particular, there is acute malnutrition, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and skin infections. In terms of difficulties, we found that "there is famine due to poverty, unemployment, lack of housing and children who do not have birth certificates. All this does not help us in the field", says our interlocutor.
Indeed, between 2003 and 2021, more than 300,000 Central African refugees fled hostilities due to successive crises in this neighboring country. Garoua-Boulaï is currently home to 50,706 Central African refugees out of a population of 8,036 inhabitants. The refugees alone represent 36% of the population of our commune. When they arrived, there were several humanitarian organizations that took care of them. Today, many of them have left, the aid no longer comes constantly and these refugees are experiencing enormous difficulties in their survival"Adamou Abdon, mayor of the commune of Garoua-Boulaï, which houses one of the largest refugee camps in Gado-Badzéré, said. According to official statistics, nearly 300,000 Central African refugees are currently living in Cameroon. Despite multi-faceted support from humanitarian agencies, their presence puts additional pressure on already scarce natural resources and on basic social services available to host communities. On the other hand, since 2021, the humanitarian aid budget has decreased by about 50% while the education, health and nutrition needs of war victims remain. "We are counting on the coordination and support of national and international NGOs to provide substantial support for the refugees in Cameroon.We are counting on the coordination and support of national and international NGOs to provide substantial support for the supervision of refugees in Cameroon," said a humanitarian worker at the Lolo camp in the Kadey department, prior to a voluntary repatriation operation for refugees in November 2020.
To support refugees in these two regions, a project is being implemented by the International Labor Organization (ILO) with financial support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica). It will help refugee women, internally displaced persons and women from host communities to create sustainable agricultural enterprises and cooperatives."For four years, this project will revitalize the local economy and social cohesion between refugees and host communities through Through the development of women's entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women in positive agro-ecological value chains. It targets about 5000 beneficiaries. That is 65% women and 50% refugees and covers 04 departments and 16 communes in the East and Adamaoua regions," explains Katleen Félix Ranger, the project director. Estimated at more than 5 billion CFA francs, or about 8 million dollars, the project was officially launched in Bertoua on December 15, 2021 by the Inspector General of the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and the Family (Minproff), Nathaly Ngemba.
Source: ecomatin.net/
