Guest post by Kathryn Dunmore, Red Cross blogger
The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) has forced close to one million people from their homes. Despite the challenges, Red Cross volunteers in CAR are doing what they can to help. Meanwhile, the Cameroon Red Cross has been assisting refugees arriving in their country. The
Canadian Red Cross and the International Red Cross Red Crescent movement have deployed delegates and resources to support the response.
Thousands of men, women and children are fleeing their home villages, leaving behind their property and possessions, and to escape the violence. Locals in Cameroon are doing what they can to help the growing number of refugees survive, such as providing rice and fish despite their own modest incomes.
In September 2013, the
Cameroon Red Cross Society was able to assist 3,200 CAR refugees in Guiwa Yangamo and Bétaré-Oya through the distribution of non-food items, psychosocial support and access to safe water and sanitation. Today, with the growing number of new refugees in the region, the needs have tripled with approximately 9,000 refugees in border villages, according to the Cameroon Red Cross.
Thousands of men, women, and children, jam-packed into freight trucks and covered in dust arrive in east Cameroon. Photo credit: Mathieu Ngah/IFRC
In CAR, the situation is dire with an increase in the number of people seeking emergency medical care. Medical supplies are quickly depleted with health care staff, often the victims of conflict themselves, unable to report for duty. Now, half of the health infrastructures are no longer functioning. With rainy season just weeks away, worries of malaria, which has been the number one killer in the country, had
IFRC intending to launch a bed-net distribution program in April. However, given the current situation, the timeline has been moved up.
Staff and volunteers at the Central African Republic Red Cross have been providing first aid to those affected by the ongoing violence. With half of health facilities not functioning, there are real fears of disease outbreaks. Photo credit: IFRC
To support Red Cross efforts in CAR, Canadians can donate to the
International Disaster Relief Fund.