Scaling-up Humanitarian Relief Assistance to the Displaced and Affected Populations in the Diocese of Kumbo

With the ongoing crisis in the North and South West region of Cameroon which started in 2016, Caritas by 2018 and with financial assistance from Misereor and the Diocese of Limburg in Germany stepped in and have continued with humanitarian relief assistance to displaced and affected persons, victims of the ongoing crisis.

This project seeks to reduce to effects of the ongoing crisis on displaced and affected persons by relieving hunger, improving health, improving access to shelter for those who lost homes to burning, improving access to WASH, Child protection and re-engagement of skills and re-establishment of workshops and petty businesses.

Objectives of the project:

• Reduce food insecurity by improving access to food for internally displaced persons and victim of crisis within the Diocese of Kumbo.
• Provide basic shelter and related non-food items to displaced persons and affected population.
• To build the resilience of the affected population especially those who have lost relations as a result of the crisis.
• Curb malnutrition in children by providing Ready to use therapeutic food to children 0-5 years especially those born of single teenage girls in order to improve on their nutrition and reduce malnutrition.

Target population:

This project intended to benefit women, children and men who have been displaced and the victims of the crisis, with the principal targets being women and children as most of the men have relocated to relatively safe areas or have been killed leaving behind women to fend for the families. The number of female-headed homes has increased drastically.

Activities carried out under humanitarian relief assistance project:

• Identification and registration of the displaced and affected persons of the ongoing crisis.
• Psycho-social support to victims to help them build resilience.
• Outreach to the displaced and victims of the crisis with food, non food items.
• Provision of  ready to use therapeutic food (RUTF) to malnourished children 0-5 years to improve child nutrition and reduce malnutrition among children and follow up of these children until they becomes stable.
• Train and assist teenage mothers to establish and run home gardens in order to improve access to vegetables that can improve nutrition of children. These gardens also serve as sources of income generation as the teenage mothers sell the excess harvest and gain money to buy other needs for their babies.
• Early recovery program which involves activities with long term sustainable goals e.g.
  -   Assist farmers with organic manure to improve yields and boast productivity.
  -   Assisting youths who have acquired vocational skills by empowering them to set up and run their own business and workshops - (Re-engaging of affected skilled persons).

• Health support through payment of hospital bills to the vulnerable and other victims of the crisis.
• Mitigate outbreak of water and hygiene related diseases by provision of WASH materials like washing soap, sanitary napkins, drinking and washing buckets, water filters etc.