More than 2.9 million people in Cameroon were affected by an ongoing armed conflict related to Boko Haram insurgencies in the Lake Chad Basin in 2016. In the Far North region, which borders Nigeria, there were nearly 200,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). Some 60,000 Nigerians fleeing violence across the border took refuge at the Minawao camp in this region and another 26,000 have settled within host communities, putting additional stress on already vulnerable local populations. An estimated two-thirds of the displaced are children.

In addition to the insecurity, Cameroon’s Far North region also suffers from recurrent crises related to food insecurity, climate change and disease outbreaks. An  estimated 2.2% of children suffer from severe acute malnutrition and 88 out of every 1,000 children  die before the age of five. Access to health care is difficult, as many health structures have been  destroyed by fighting and others are no longer functioning. Hygienic conditions are poor due to  lack of access to clean water. The most common diseases are malaria, respiratory infection and watery diarrhea.

Since May 2016, ALIMA has been providing free nutritional and pediatric care at the Mokolo district hospital, which serves as a referral center for host community affected by the conflict, internally displaced populations within Cameroon also affected by the conflict as well as Nigerian refugees in the Minawao camp. Thanks to the intensive nutritional center, more than 1,000 children suffering from severe  acute malnutrition were hospitalized and treated. More than 550 children were hospitalized for malaria. 

In December in the Makary health district, where some 35,000 people are displaced, ALIMA began supporting the district hospital and nine health centers with pediatric and nutritional care in addition to primary health care for both IDPs and hostcommunity members . Over the course of one month, more than 400 consultations were recorded, with 577 children treated for malnutrition, of which 45 were hospitalized. The medical teams alscared for more than 130 children with malaria.