Cameroon Humanitarian Needs Overview 2024 (February 2024)

Some 3.4 million people living in Cameroon are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection due to the effects of conflict and violence, climate shocks, and disease outbreaks. The prolonged nature of the Lake Chad basin conflict, the North-West and South-West crisis, and the impact of the Central African Republic (CAR) refugee crisis are compromising affected populations well-being and living conditions. There are nearly one million internally displaced people (IDPs). The country is also hosting nearly half a million refugees and asylum seekers. Humanitarian needs are compounded by structural development weaknesses and chronic vulnerabilities. New or multiple displacements and insufficient humanitarian assistance contribute to the considerable erosion of the already limited resilience of the affected population and to enduring humanitarian needs. Protection needs are widespread: women and girls are at high risk of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and men and boys are most exposed to arbitrary arrest and detention, death, and injury. Over 2.5 million people are facing acute food insecurity. In line with the global guidance,2 which indicates that only populations affected by crises are to be included in the inter-sectoral needs and severity analysis, the following population groups are considered in this overview: IDPs, Returnees, Refugees, Host communities, and ‘Those left behind’, who are people affected by a crisis/shock but who do not flee nor host IDPs and/or refugees. ‘Those left behind’ often were not able or willing to flee, some because of old age and disabilities, and they have been identified as one of the most vulnerable groups.

The population group ‘Other people’, which are people not directly affected by a humanitarian crisis but vulnerable due to structural factors, are not considered anymore in the intersectoral Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) analysis for 2024, as per global guidance. Meanwhile, the geographical scope of the HNO remains the same as in 2023: the inter-sectoral needs analysis covers the five regions affected by the Lake Chad basin and North-West and South-West crises, namely the Far North, North-West, South-West, Littoral and West. The analysis was carried out at divisional level (Admin 2). The multisectoral refugee analysis covers the East, Adamawa, North, Far North regions and urban centers in the Littoral and Centre regions.