PRESS RELEASE — UNICEF IN CAMEROON
On World Water Day, together with the young people of JVS and 3W, UNICEF in Cameroon calls for urgent, sustainable and massive investments with and for children and young people.
Yaounde, March 22, 2024. The 2024 edition of World Water Day focuses on “Water for Peace”. In 2023, the theme was “Accelerating change towards universal access to sustainable water services”. A subject that remains topical in the Cameroonian context, marked by major challenges in the water and energy sectors.
To contribute to peace, water must be accessible to all in an equitable and sustainable manner. Access to water, sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030 is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) no. 6, to which the international community committed itself in 2015.
In Cameroon, according to the National Development Strategy (SND 30), the proportion of the population with access to water has risen from 45.3% in 2007 to around 70% today, representing a significant improvement. But the situation is highly contrasted and much less favorable in rural areas, where less than half of households have access to drinking water, compared with 8 out of 10 in urban areas. The quality of the water available is poor, and polluted water exacerbates exposure to diarrhoeal diseases and, consequently, malnutrition. What’s more, only 43% of Cameroonians have access to basic sanitation facilities, with a significant gap between urban (58%) and rural (22%) areas. Only half of all schools have access to drinking water, and 30% have adequate sanitation facilities.
In regions such as the North and Far North, water shortages are becoming increasingly frequent and severe because of climate change. In the Lake Chad region, for example, water shortages are a source of conflict and population displacement, threatening food security and, indeed, child nutrition, with worrying rates of acute malnutrition in the Far North (8.0%) and Adamawa (6.6%) regions.
The lack of water and sanitation services, coupled with the impacts of climate change in the form of both shortages and severe flooding, are resulting in an increase in diseases such as cholera and malaria. Over the past 40 years, 2023 has been the second most affected year for cholera, with a total of 21,255 cases and 508 deaths reported as of December 14, 2023.
The number of people displaced by flooding, particularly in the Far North, is rising. Heavy rains and flooding between August and November 2023 in the Far North and Chad affected more than 10,000 people and displaced around 2,300, of whom 1,200 fled Chad to Cameroon. Some 38 schools and six health centers were damaged.
In 2023, the provision of drinking water and access to appropriate sanitation facilities and supplies was a top priority for UNICEF and its partners as they provided assistance to displaced and repatriated people and their host communities, as well as to others affected by armed conflict, natural disasters and epidemics. But lack of financial resources has limited action.
As the lead agency for the WASH cluster in Cameroon, UNICEF provides WASH services to communities, schools and health facilities. UNICEF also provides expertise in emergency preparedness and response, systems strengthening support, and national and global advocacy for water, sanitation and hygiene.
Strengthened by this leadership role within the United Nations system, and in conjunction with the Young Voices from the Sahel (YVS) and the World We Want (3W) local CSO, UNICEF is urging all public, institutional and private stakeholders to accelerate access to sustainable water and sanitation services for all in Cameroon, through sustainable investment.
UNICEF supports the advocacy of young climate activists, who are pleading for a seat at the table to discuss actions and investments. “Too little investment is directed towards responses developed by and for children and young people,” says Nadine Perrault, UNICEF Representative in Cameroon. Indeed, on a global level, only 4% of investments to counter climate change are directed towards children, and barely 2% of children and young people participate in project development.
“We need to challenge the way we work in the face of these challenges and offer solutions that promote the resilience of communities and young people. At UNICEF, we do this in collaboration with young activists who know better than anyone else the realities facing their communities, and who are committed to adaptation and responsible water management”, continues Nadine Perrault.
The YVS in Cameroon are among the associations supported by UNICEF that actively advocate their vision of climate change, notably through debates with political and scientific players and raising community awareness of the issues at stake. “We need to invest in the education and vocational training of local populations to strengthen their ability to find sustainable jobs and adapt to environmental change in the region,” says Yvette Firita, 24, YVS Cameroon.
President of the 3W association and living in the Lake Chad region, Abdul adds: “To face the challenges in a sustainable way, we need strategies that integrate the preservation of Lake Chad, adaptation to climate change and food security with measures to conserve water, regulate the exploitation of water resources and promote sustainable agricultural practices to reduce pressure on natural resources. And we need a regional approach to governance.”
Ahead of the World Water Summit to be held next May in Bali, Indonesia, young activists from Cameroon are taking part in a regional dialogue on the issue of Lake Chad, at the invitation of their Chadian counterparts, to be held in early April in Ndjamena.
As lead agency of the WASH cluster in Cameroon, UNICEF takes the opportunity of the 2024 edition of World Water Day to reiterate its commitment to redouble its efforts in the process of accelerating change towards access for all to sustainable services, so that water effectively contributes to Peace in Cameroon.
NOTE TO THE EDITORS
About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and well-being of every child, in everything we do. We work in 190 countries and territories around the world with our partners to make this commitment a reality, with a particular focus on reaching the most vulnerable and marginalized children, for the benefit of all children, everywhere.
For further information, please contact:
Anne Fouchard, Chief of Partnerships, Advocacy and Communication: afouchard@unicef.org Tél: +237 657 75 05 32
ARTICLES UNICEF
Emergency aid to flood victims in the South-West Region, Cameroon | by UNICEF Cameroon | Medium
UNICEF VIDEOS
Door-to-Door Sensitization on Cholera in Buea — YouTube
Cleaning after Floods — YouTube
Dignity Kits for Adolescent girls affected by the floods in the SouthWest Region — YouTube
