Cameroon

The 2019 rainy season in the Far North region of Cameroon has caused the Logone river to overflow and flood the Zina (Logone-et-Chari department), Maga and Kai-Kai districts (Mayo Dany) in the country's Far North region. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 60 out of 110 villages in the Zina district - 19,359 people - are affected, while 15 villages with a total of 16,215 people are affected in the Kai-Kai district.

UN-SPIDER has requested the activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters for the floods on behalf of the Department of Civil Protection (DPC) of Cameroon. SERTIT is acting as the project manager for this activation. An…

Upon the request of the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT), Government of Cameroon, UN-SPIDER carried out a week-long Institutional Strengthening Mission (ISM) to Yaoundé from 15 to 19 July. The mission aimed to strengthen the capacities of the Department of Civil Protection (DPC) of Cameroon in using space-based information in all phases of the disaster management cycle. It was the third UN-SPIDER mission to Cameroon after a Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) in 2011 and an Institutional Strengthening Mission (ISM) in 2012, the latter including a training course on “Remote Sensing for Disaster Management”.

During the mission, UN-SPIDER experts and an expert from its Nigeria Regional…

The 7th Africa Working Group Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction that was celebrated from 21 to 22 July, followed by the 4th High Level Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction on 23 July, has been the starting point for the implementation the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa.

Representatives from the majority of African countries, the African Union, Africa’s Regional Economic Communities and a host of other international organizations have sat together for three days of talks in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The aim of this meeting was to compare the existing disaster risk reduction programmes in Africa with the Sendai Framework and try to narrow the gap between them.

“We are now at a stage where our efforts are concentrating on paving the road for effective implementation of the Sendai Framework on the continent in the next 15 years. This is the only way that Africa will be able to curb the ever-increasing disaster risk and associated consequences…

UN-SPIDER, upon the request of its National Focal Point in Cameroon, requested support through its network to acquire satellite imagery of the Kousseri area, Logone et Chari district, in the far North of Cameroon. The region is experiencing serious floods leaving tens of thousands of people homeless and causing heavy damages. UN-SPIDER and its partners were able to extend a previous activation of the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" to provide satellite imagery to this region as well. The Charter had been activated on 10 October 2012 by UNITAR/UNOSAT on behalf of UNICEF for floods in neighboring Chad. UNITAR/UNOSAT which also took the role of the Project Manager for this activation agreed to support the request. The UNOSAT map products are available on UNITAR's website [1]. [1] http://www.unitar.org/unosat/maps/TCD

The International Charter Space and Major Disasters was activated for floods on Thursday 6 September 2012 in the region of Maga, Mayo-Danay, Cameroon. The Charter was activated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) on behalf of Civil Protection Directorate, Cameroon.

Extreme floods have devastated Northern regions of Cameroon. Nearly 20 people have died and thousands more are left homeless. Continuous rainfall and the release of the Ladgo Dam caused the Benoe River to burst its banks, which flooded neighbouring residential areas. Faro, Mayo Louti, and Benoue areas were most hard-hit by the floods, destroying crop and rice fields thus causing shortages of food supplies. There are growing concerns of infections such as cholera and malaria being spread through flood waters. Rescue operations are under way; more than 2,500 people have been medically treated and placed into tents.

In June 2011, UN-SPIDER conducted a Technical Advisory Mission in Cameroon following the request by the Government of Cameroon, represented by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Department of Civil Protection. The goal was to assess the use of space-based technology and information for disaster management and emergency response in Cameroon, to identify potential areas where space-based technology and information could play a greater role, and propose recommendations on how to improve Cameroon‘s access to and use of space-based technology and information.

From 7 to 11 May 2012, UN-SPIDER supported a follow-up training in remote sensing for disaster management upon request of the UN-SPIDER National Focal Point for Cameroon. The training was conducted jointly with the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). Some 25 participants from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (…

In October 2010, the Government of Cameroon, represented by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Department of Civil Protection, officially requested a UN-SPIDER Technical Advisory Mission to assess the use of space-based technology and information for disaster management and emergency response in Cameroon, identify potential areas where space-based technology and information could play a greater role, and propose recommendations on how to improve Cameroon's access to and use of space-based technology and information. After Burkina Faso, Ghana, Namibia, Togo, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and Sudan this was the ninth UN-SPIDER advisory mission to Africa, followed immediately by the tenth TAM on the continent to Nigeria.

A team of eleven international experts was fielded to Cameroon from 6 to 10 June 2011.…

The Africa Working Group (AWG) on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) meets bi-annually to take stock of the progress made regionally on the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and the Africa Regional Strategy for DRR and its Extended Programme of Action: 2006-2015. 

The seventh extended Africa AWG meeting takes place following the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR), thus the overall objective will be to agree on concrete follow-up actions and political commitments to ensure effective implementation of the SFDRR in the continent. 

More specifically, in an effort to deliver on the Decision of the Executive Council of the AU in January 2015, the extended AWG meeting will focus on the review of the programme of action and regional and national DRR programmes and their alignment with the SFDRR. The High-level meeting will consider the outcome of the extended AWG technical meeting and adopt…