Cameroon

2014 UNHCR country operations profile - Cameroon

| Overview |

Working environment

• The overall security situation in Cameroon is calm. However, due to ongoing instability in the region, Cameroon has been receiving refugees and asylum-seekers from neighbouring countries, mainly the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria and Chad.

• In the East and Adamaoua regions, refugees from the CAR are spread over more than 308 sites across 50,000 square kilometres. This logistical challenge is further aggravated by poor road conditions and makes access to refugees difficult for UNHCR and partners.

• Cameroon currently hosts over 100,000 people of concern to UNHCR. The country has always kept its borders open to asylum-seekers, and is signatory to all major international and regional legal instruments on refugees. In that context, Cameroon adopted a Law Defining the Legal Framework for Refugee Protection in July 2005, which was brought into application by a decree, signed in November 2011. Two commissions on eligibility and appeals have been created and their members nominated, but they are not yet operational. Cameroon has not yet signed the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions.

• Economically, Cameroon is among the group of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries and ranked 150th out of 187 countries in the 2013 UNDP Human Development Index.

• The Government of Cameroon provides protection and asylum for people of concern to UNHCR through the allocation of land for the Nandoungué and Minawao refugee camps. It also facilitates access of refugee children to local schools and health centres, with the support of UNHCR.

People of concern

The main groups of people of concern planned for in 2014 under the Cameroon operation are: refugees from the CAR, who since 2006 have been fleeing insecurity due to high levels of banditry and other criminal acts in the north-west region of their country; a group of refugees who began to arrive from the CAR in March 2013, following a new wave of political instability and insecurity; and Nigerian refugees fleeing fighting between insurgents and Government forces. The country hosts urban refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly in Yaoundé and Douala, from 28 countries of origin, including the CAR, Chad, the Republic of the Congo (Congo), Côte d'Ivoire and Rwanda.

Planning figures

| Response |

Needs and strategies

In 2014, UNHCR will continue to focus on providing protection and assistance to refugees from the CAR located in over 300 sites in the East and Adamaoua regions. Prioritized needs include improving the health status of the population, ensuring access to education, and increasing or maintaining water supplies.

For refugees and asylum-seekers in urban areas, the major objectives will be to improve their access to health facilities and education, and to support voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity. Concerning durable solutions, the Office, together with partners, will make particular efforts to develop income-generating and livelihood activities for refugees from the CAR, in order to support their potential for local integration.

In an effort to reduce statelessness, the Office aims to conduct advocacy activities on the issuance of birth certificates, support civil registration centres and sensitize parents to the importance of birth registration.

Resource constraints are likely to primarily affect the following sectors: access to health care, education, civil registration, and self-reliance, particularly in the East and Adamaoua regions (CAR refugees) and in the far north region (Nigerian refugees). These are among the poorest areas in the country, lacking basic infrastructure, such as schools, health-care centres and water points. In urban settings, the quality of health care for refugees may also be affected by resource limitations.

| Implementation |

Coordination

The Office collaborates with governmental departments, UN agencies, other international organizations and NGOs.

UNHCR will work closely with the Ministry of External Relations in supporting the National Eligibility and Appeals Commissions to take full responsibility for refugee status determination, registration procedures and refugee documentation and will continue collaboration with the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Family and the Ministry of Social Affairs.

In the East and Adamaoua regions, partnerships with the services of the Governor and decentralized State departments will be strengthened, and cooperation with IFRC and NGO partners continued.

In urban areas, UNHCR will provide strategic leadership on international protection and the delivery of assistance for refugees and other people of concern through its implementing partners.

In 2014, cooperation with UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP in the fields of nutrition, education, civil registration, child protection, reproductive health and SGBV will continue.

| Financial information |

With new needs emerging from the recent refugee influxes from the Central African Republic and Nigeria, two supplementary appeals have been launched in 2013. Because of these new situations, the assessed financial requirements are higher in 2014 than in previous years and are set at USD 25 million.

Source: UNHCR Global Appeal 2014-2105

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