IDP's around the only well in the wadale district
Of the 3.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Cameroon by 2023, 2.3 million are living in extreme precariousness, according to the United Nations refugee agency. In Wadalé 3, in the town of Mora, as in several other host towns, internally displaced persons are struggling to adapt to the changes in their lives and to acquire vital spaces in which to carry out their activities.
The rehabilitation of internally displaced persons has been a major issue since the start of the waves of insecurity that have hit Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Nigeria. Since 2019, the government has released more than 12 billion euros for emergencies, natural disaster management and aid to people in distress. In addition, development partners have defined a humanitarian plan for the most urgent responses, as part of a sectoral consultative process. By 2024, this plan will be worth some 230 billion euros.
Land is expensive and water is undrinkable
Despite all these efforts, some populations, including many IDPs, are struggling to benefit from these subsidies. Since 2014, IDPs in the Wadalé 3 neighborhood in the town of Mora (Far North Cameroon region, Mayo Sava department) have been unable to access land. Some are forced to rent it out to host populations in exchange for two 100kg sacks of millet a year. With prices soaring on the market, the price varies between 20,000 and 50,000 FCFA. As for water, you have to travel distances of up to twelve kilometers to get drinking water. This is because the only well serving the locality shines through its legendary insalubrity.
Girls' access to school is a real luxury
Added to these difficulties is access to school. In the Waladé 3 IDP camp, for example, of the three students eligible to sit the end-of-year exams, only one was able to apply thanks to a community contribution. This was Ahmat Mahamat Soba, a student in the Arabic third grade. For the others, notably Fanne Ngoudja and Haoua Garga, also in third grade, it's a blank year. They will have to wait until next year, in the hope that the situation will improve. An analysis of this situation confirms the existence of the problem of girls' education in the northern regions. In Gaschiga (North Cameroon region), for example, a vocational training center has been dubbed “I'm waiting for my husband” by the local population. According to them, parents enroll their children in this center not for vocational training, but as a way out while waiting for a potential husband to arrive.
Advocacy for a synergy of social action
Faced with all these different situations, the Foi et Justice association, through advocacy, campaigns for social justice and the peaceful cohabitation of IDPs. To this end, it calls on decision-makers to integrate the poor and vulnerable at the heart of economic and social policies. Foi et Justice is also looking for partners to meet its primary needs, particularly in terms of medicines, farming tools, clothing and school materials./.
