Water, sanitation and hygiene in emergencies

4 min readMar 22, 2024

UNICEF Humanitarian Response WASH 2024

In 2023, the provision of safe drinking water remained a top priority for UNICEF Cameroon. However, the lack of sufficient financial resources has hindered considerable progress in the WASH response, leading to children, women and men suffering the repercussions of limited action.

UNICEF and its partners provided WASH assistance to IDPs and returnees who were victims of armed conflict, natural disasters, and epidemics.

UNICEF’s added value in the WASH sector stems from its extensive experience in delivering WASH services at community level, in schools and in health facilities. UNICEF also brings wealth of knowledge in emergency preparedness and response providing support in system strengthening as well as advocating for access to WASH at both national and global levels.

To meet the needs and reduce the vulnerability, amongst crisisaffected children, women and men in the Northwest and Southwest regions, UNICEF provided assistance to approximately 80,578 people including 30% women, 27% girls and 23% boys, through various wash initiatives. The primary WASH initiative involved constructing and renovating water stations to ensure that 6,435 people have access to safe water sources. Thanks to the construction and renovation of emergency,

familial and institutional latrines within schools and health facilities 10,462 people gained access to basic sanitation services.

Two measures have been implemented to promote proper hygiene practices and prevent the transmission of diseases related to WASH. Firstly, essential WASH kits were distributed to households benefitting a total of 21,013 individuals (34% women, 20% men, 21% boys, 25% girls). These kits include two cups, a bucket, a child pot (sanitation), a jerry can, and water purification tablets (enough to treat drinking water within a household for three months).

Secondly awareness was raised through the dissemination of cholera prevention and hygiene messages that reached 42,668 people (35% women, 23% men, 20% boys and 22% girls). UNICEF provided support to respond to climate-influenced disasters, specifically the flooding in Buea on 18 March and the flooding and landslide in Limbe on 21 July which caused damage to the water supply system and some sanitation facilities. The WASH cluster, under the leadership of UNICEF conducted a rapid assessment, followed by an emergency response by the cluster partners Environmental Protection and Development Association (EPDA) and the Foundation for Inclusive Education for All (FIED). These two national organizations were successful in trucking water to people whose water supply systems were destroyed by the floods and landslide, distributing essential WASH kits and raising awareness to prevent the cholera outbreak and minimize the spread of water related diseases.

In the Far North, different locations of the Mokolo municipality, UNICEF through its partners, provided 56,545 IDPs affected by armed conflict, including 40%, with WASH kits and sensitization on hygiene practices. Some, 40 emergency latrines were constructed in IDPs sites in Zamay and Mikilik, benefitting 12,205 people including 30% girls, 24% women and 32% boys. In Zamay, four boreholes were constructed to function as water supply network.

During the reporting period, the recycling support provided to artisan repairers and the provision of spare parts for pumps in the municipalities of Mokolo and Fotokol enabled the rehabilitation of 46 boreholes, thereby granting access to water to 20,500 people.

In the East region, with the support of KOICA, 5,441 people including girls, boys and women benefited from the establishment of four cutting-edge solar-powered water supply in four localities in Betare Oya (Mbal, Dang Patou), Kentzou (Mbouye) and Kette (Beke chantier) municipalities.

In addition, 20,710 other people including boys, girls and women from Betare Oya, Garoua Boulai, Mandjou, Ouli, Kette and Kentzou gained access to basic water services a a result of the restoration of 30 boreholes fitted with handpumps.

Programme results: