The United Nations has warned it will have to suspend life-saving humanitarian aid for over a half million refugees in Cameroon. The urgent suspension of this humanitarian assistance will take effect at the end of August without new and much-needed emergency funding. The UN’s World Food Programme, which provides food to 523,000 people, has already been scaling back critical operations.
In the Gado refugee camp, refugees are now receiving only half of their daily food needs, the UN agency stated in a release. This increasingly dire situation is forcing families to adopt negative coping strategies like skipping meals or selling their limited belongings.
The WFP said it has already been forced to end critical assistance for 26,000 refugees in one northern camp. Gianluca Ferrera, the WFP’s country director in Cameroon, said the agency has reached a critical and urgent humanitarian tipping point.
He added that without immediate funding, children will tragically go hungry, families will suffer, and lives will be lost. The UN body said it needs a total of $65.5 million to sustain humanitarian assistance through January of 2026.
The rising numbers of refugees in Cameroon are fleeing multiple crises, including prolonged conflict and persistent instability in the region. Last year, Cameroon overtook Burkina Faso on the Norwegian Refugee Council’s list of the world’s most neglected displacement crises.