Cameroon Multi-Country Office

Year-end Overview

Plan Overview

Operational environment

In line with its long history of providing asylum to refugees, Cameroon continues to host some 1.96 million people of concern to UNHCR, including some 430,000 Nigerian refugees in the Far North and Central Africans in the Eastern border regions, with access to basic services, such as civil documentation limited, particularly for displaced populations.
 
The country also has over 1 million IDPs concentrated in the North-West and South-West and the Far North regions where conflict and instability are likely to persist in 2021, as well as 484,036 IDPs returnees in the Far North. Gabon, also covered by UNHCR’s operation in Cameroon, hosts 484 refugees and 84 asylum-seekers in a context of prolonged displacement.
 
In light of the ongoing decentralisation process in the country, UNHCR will continue to reinforce its coordination with territorial authorities for a progressive inclusion of refugees in local development planning processes. National authorities will work with UNHCR and partners to prevent and reduce statelessness and to develop and adopt a National Action Plan in this regard. 

Key priorities

In this challenging context, UNHCR will continue to coordinate refugee issues with partners across different coordination platforms, including the UN Country Team. It will also strengthen its emergency response capacity by reinforcing its leadership role in the protection, shelter and camp coordination and camp management clusters, and supporting local and national authorities to prepare for, prevent and mitigate displacement risks.
 
UNHCR will seek durable solutions in Cameroon and in countries of origin, while enhancing resettlement and complementary pathway for refugees. In light of the relative improvements seen in certain areas of Nigeria and the Central African Republic, UNHCR will facilitate the repatriation of 10,000 refugees from Cameroon in safety and dignity in 2021.
 
Building on the pledges made by the Government of Cameroon during the Global Refugee Forum 2019, UNHCR will continue to support the national and local authorities in their effort towards the socioeconomic inclusion of refugees and other displaced populations while broadening and strengthening its partnership with key humanitarian and development actors, particularly the World Bank.
 
In Cameroon and Gabon, private sector engagement will remain a priority to expand opportunities for refugees and other people of concerns and mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concurrently, UNHCR will work with partners to implement a targeted approach to ensure that that most vulnerable refugee households continue receiving assistance to meet their basic needs.
 
In Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao tome and Principe, UNHCR will continue to cooperate with the national authorities to improve access to territory for people in need of international protection and to work on the improvement of the legal framework to address the risks of statelessness.