UN FINALLY DECLARES AND SETS OUT A
RAPID HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY RESPONSE AGENDA FOR AMBAZONIA
by Mbiydzenyuy Dave WANTANGWA
The United
Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has finally
declared an emergency on the NW and SW zones of Ambazonia. According to the
Service (UNOCHA), “The crisis in the South-West and North-West Regions of Cameroon has
compounded pre-existing vulnerabilities. Since 2016, political and social
instability, exacerbated by sporadic violence, has had a negative impact on the
civilian population of Cameroon’s South-West and North-West Regions, hosting
four million inhabitants (16% of the total population). In November 2017, the
socio-political crisis progressively translated into insecurity and armed
violence. Since then, the escalation of tension and upsurge in hostilities
between non-state armed groups and defence and security forces have triggered humanitarian
needs across the two regions, linked to significant internal displacement. In
recent months, the epicentre of the crisis moved from Bamenda (North-West) to
Mamfe and Kumba (South-West). All divisions in the South-West region, host to more
than 1.4 million inhabitants, are affected by the crisis. The number of
households forced to flee their villages - or the country - in search of safer
areas has rapidly and steadily increased since November 2017. Recent needs assessments
report that at least 160,000 people have been internally displaced in the two
affected regions and would need humanitarian and protection assistance over the
next three months. In addition, more than 21,000 Cameroonians have been
registered as refugees in Cross River, Benue and Akwa Ibom States in Nigeria”.
According to the assessment report, the
crisis has affected 160.000 people without counting those who found refuge in
Nigeria, and the UN further places as target, these 160.000 IDPs spread across
the following areas, namely:
“135,000 are located in Meme Division and 15,000 in Manyu Division. The remaining 10,000 are displaced in the North-West Region. Simultaneously, dozens of villages in Mbongue and Konye Subdivision (Meme Division) have been emptied of their populations. The situation is similar in the North- West, especially in Boyo Division. Many villages have suffered significant material damage in Mbongue and Konye Subdivision (Meme Division), and in Eyumodjok and Akwaya Subdivision (Manyu Division). “
Needless
to mention that the intransigence of the LRC government in genuinely resolving
the crisis amidst a series of elections this year, gives reason to predict that
the situation will continue to escalate in the coming months. Of the 160.000
people, the various divisions have been estimated to have the following
figures: Meme – 135.000, Manyu – 15.000, Boyo – 3.000, Momo – 3.000 and Ngoketunjia
– 4.000.
In the absence of any dialogue or the
wish to have any, the future of the crisis is foreseeably bleak. The UN again
states, that
“Clashes between non-state armed groups and defense and security forces have displaced the civilian population into the surrounding forests and villages – 80% of the displaced population have found refuge in the forest. The two regions have experienced a deterioration of living conditions - primarily affecting school-age children, women and the elderly - and a collapse of livelihoods as well as heightened abuses. The crisis and subsequent displacement have prevented people from accessing their fields and markets. For most of the affected population who relied upon agriculture or livestock as their main sources of livelihoods before the crisis, dependency on external assistance will be inevitable in the short-term”.
This rapid
emergency response plan will cost the UN some 15.2 million dollars.
Source:
Emergency Response Plan: Cameroon –
North West and South West, OCHA, published May 28th, 2018.
(https://reliefweb.int/report/cameroon/emergency-response-plan-cameroon-north-west-and-south-west-may-2018)
-->
No comments:
Post a Comment