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Cameroon
Snapshot*
Population – 18.5 million
Refugees – 30,000 (Chad), 3,000 (Nigeria), 24,000 (Central African Republic)
Life expectancy – 53 years old
Median age –19 years old
Infant mortality rate – 65 deaths for every 1,000 live births
Fertility rate – 4.4 children per woman
HIV/AIDS rate – 7 percent
Infectious disease risk – Very high
Literacy rate – 68 percent
Life in Cameroon
In 1955, an independence movement in French Cameroon emerged and evolved into a bloody civil war that killed from tens to hundreds of thousands. Five years later, French Cameroon gained its autonomy and the country elected its first president. His successor has been president of Cameroon since the 1980s, despite an attempted coup to overthrow him. While Cameroon is peaceful compared to its volatile neighbors, its relative security stimulates movement across its border as refugees look to escape violence back home. The rebel attack on Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, in February 2008 pushed thousands to flee to Cameroon, while continuing violence in Central African Republic has pushed thousands more to resettle along its eastern border. Though stable, an estimated 40 percent Cameroon’s population lives below the poverty line, making it difficult to support the stream of refugees looking to rebuild their lives inside its borders.
Helping Communities Help Themselves
Bringing Relief
International Medical Corps (IMC) is working along the eastern border where many Central Africans have resettled to serve some of the most underserved communities in Cameroon. To help the strained host and refugee populations, IMC is providing the following services:
Primary health care
Maternal and child care
Expanded immunization
Nutritional and therapeutic and supplemental feeding
International Medical Corps runs mobile medical units that make curative, preventative, and health education services available to approximately 12,000 people in different settlements throughout the region. In a time of rising food costs, IMC also works to reduce malnutrition among the most vulnerable - mothers and children under five - with vital nutritional supplements.
Enabling Self-Reliance
To make its relief efforts sustainable, International Medical Corps’ programs train national staff to fulfill the following roles in its programs:
Traditional birth attendants to help ensure clean, safe deliveries for mothers and their babies
Community health workers to provide primary health care through IMC and Ministry of Health-supported mobile clinics, as well as nutritional support in supplemental and therapeutic feeding centers
Through its primary health and nutrition programs, International Medical Corps will provide continuous on-the-job training to first establish and then deepen the national staff’s skill sets so that they are able to diagnose, treat, and prevent common ailments in their own communities.
You Can Help Build Change That Lasts
While Cameroon’s neighbors continue to face violence, its infrastructure and economy continues to struggle with the influx of refugees looking to flee conflicts back home. Your support makes it possible for International Medical Corps to provide life-saving services and long-lasting skills for thousands who are trying to start anew in Cameroon, as well as those communities trying to absorb them. Click here to help Cameroon and other IMC programs worldwide.
*Statistics from U.S. Government
Population – 18.5 million
Refugees – 30,000 (Chad), 3,000 (Nigeria), 24,000 (Central African Republic)
Life expectancy – 53 years old
Median age –19 years old
Infant mortality rate – 65 deaths for every 1,000 live births
Fertility rate – 4.4 children per woman
HIV/AIDS rate – 7 percent
Infectious disease risk – Very high
Literacy rate – 68 percent
Life in Cameroon
In 1955, an independence movement in French Cameroon emerged and evolved into a bloody civil war that killed from tens to hundreds of thousands. Five years later, French Cameroon gained its autonomy and the country elected its first president. His successor has been president of Cameroon since the 1980s, despite an attempted coup to overthrow him. While Cameroon is peaceful compared to its volatile neighbors, its relative security stimulates movement across its border as refugees look to escape violence back home. The rebel attack on Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, in February 2008 pushed thousands to flee to Cameroon, while continuing violence in Central African Republic has pushed thousands more to resettle along its eastern border. Though stable, an estimated 40 percent Cameroon’s population lives below the poverty line, making it difficult to support the stream of refugees looking to rebuild their lives inside its borders.
Helping Communities Help Themselves
Bringing Relief
International Medical Corps (IMC) is working along the eastern border where many Central Africans have resettled to serve some of the most underserved communities in Cameroon. To help the strained host and refugee populations, IMC is providing the following services:
Primary health care
Maternal and child care
Expanded immunization
Nutritional and therapeutic and supplemental feeding
International Medical Corps runs mobile medical units that make curative, preventative, and health education services available to approximately 12,000 people in different settlements throughout the region. In a time of rising food costs, IMC also works to reduce malnutrition among the most vulnerable - mothers and children under five - with vital nutritional supplements.
Enabling Self-Reliance
To make its relief efforts sustainable, International Medical Corps’ programs train national staff to fulfill the following roles in its programs:
Traditional birth attendants to help ensure clean, safe deliveries for mothers and their babies
Community health workers to provide primary health care through IMC and Ministry of Health-supported mobile clinics, as well as nutritional support in supplemental and therapeutic feeding centers
Through its primary health and nutrition programs, International Medical Corps will provide continuous on-the-job training to first establish and then deepen the national staff’s skill sets so that they are able to diagnose, treat, and prevent common ailments in their own communities.
You Can Help Build Change That Lasts
While Cameroon’s neighbors continue to face violence, its infrastructure and economy continues to struggle with the influx of refugees looking to flee conflicts back home. Your support makes it possible for International Medical Corps to provide life-saving services and long-lasting skills for thousands who are trying to start anew in Cameroon, as well as those communities trying to absorb them. Click here to help Cameroon and other IMC programs worldwide.
*Statistics from U.S. Government
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