22nd August 2018
Working with our partners Christian African Relief Trust (CART), 250 Aquaboxes will leave our depot on 28th August destined for Cameroon to help the large numbers of displaced people in the south-west region of the country.
Political and social instability in Cameroon in recent years has seen an escalation of tension and an upsurge in hostilities between non-state armed groups and government forces, particularly in the north-west and south-west of the country.
The number of households forced to flee their villages – or the country – in search of safer areas has rapidly and steadily increased since November 2017. Recent assessments by the UN report that at least 160,000 people have been internally displaced in the two worst affected regions in the country.
There has been a deterioration of living conditions, primarily affecting school-age children, women and the elderly, and the displacement has prevented people from accessing their fields and markets. For most of the affected population who rely on agriculture or livestock as their main sources of livelihood, dependency on external assistance is inevitable in the short-term.
There is an immediate requirement for humanitarian aid to help those affected and access to clean safe drinking water is also urgently needed to prevent the risk of disease spreading.
Aquabox has responded by shipping 250 boxes to Cameroon. Each Aquabox is designed for a family and contains over 70 humanitarian aid items, including shelter materials and tools, sheets and blankets, cooking utensils, personal hygiene items, baby and children’s clothing, educational items and children’s toys, as well as an AquaFilter Family unit for providing safe drinking water.
The Aquaboxes will be distributed by United Action for Children, which is a child and youth-centered organisation operating in Cameroon, in the Manyu and Lebialem divisions in the south west of the country.