Having arrived in the village of Goura in Cameroon’s far northwest, they are in urgent need of food, shelter, and water, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today, after launching an emergency response.
"They left on foot very early in the morning—women, children, and elderly people," said Dr. Silas Adamou Moussa, MSF deputy program manager for emergencies.
"When they fled, they had to leave elderly and sick relatives behind.
They brought along what possessions they could, but in Goura they have nothing to drink and nowhere to sleep.
The refugees have been staying in a large, informal camp in Goura since late January.
"This is not the first time that people from Rann have had to flee to Cameroon," Dr. Moussa said.
"The first time, some of them returned home after having fled, but not this time.
Their children are afraid."
Access to safe drinking water has been a major problem in the camp.
MSF and other aid providers have been working to increase the provision of drinking water to 240,000 liters per day in the camp.

A stereotypical photo depicting hunger in sub-Saharan Africa might show a gaunt victim.
When photographer Chris de Bode traveled to Cameroon–in an area where conflict, drought, and a swelling population of refugees have led to ongoing food shortages–he focused on the food instead.
On one plate, with rice, mango leaves, and maize, we see the half-eaten meal of a family that fled from a village on the border with Nigeria when armed men attacked.
They now live in a makeshift refugee camp, but there isn’t enough food; after begging, they’ve managed to gather one meal for the day for seven people.
Another photo shows a bowl of “super cereal,” a milky white porridge used as an emergency supplement.
The northern part of the country, already the poorest region before the conflict began, has been especially hard hit.
Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds of people and forced them to work as farmers for the group; in some places, militants have issued death threats to farmers who don’t want to give up part of their harvest.
The group has also stolen at least $6 million worth of livestock.
The branches of the Red Cross working in the region provide cash to support some people in the area (giving them the option to spend it on food, when food is available, or on whatever else is needed, like repairing homes damaged in fighting), and work to bring in food when it runs out at markets–though the conflict and treacherous roads make that difficult.
“I felt by doing the same, which I’ve done a lot over the years, it wouldn’t add anything.

Randall Hackley Behind barbed-wire fences at this camp in northern Jordan, about 33,000 Syrians—half of them children—exist uneasily, housed in rows of rudimentary shelters that barely protect them from the winter cold.
To help, non-governmental organizations supply water and relief groups visit to offer aid.
The UN said at least 82 water trucks a day fill the camp’s water tanks so that 950,000 liters of water a day can flow to some 76 taps.
Boreholes also provide 3.2 million liters of drinking water a day, giving camp residents access to about 20 liters a day, or 5 gallons per person.
Water and wastewater networks were constructed by the humanitarian group ACTED.
Play activities "help take their mind off things," Akbik said.
The Rohingya crisis even prompted a UN video that ended with a plea to better address the refugees’ urgent needs of clean water.
At the informal Rohingya camps in southeast Bangladesh, water pumps next to open sewers have stoked fear of disease outbreaks, and led to vaccination, clean water and sanitation drives.
The World Health Organization reports that diptheria is "rapidly spreading among Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar," a city in Bangladesh.
The Sahrawis have come a long way since eight years ago, when water was trucked in via UNHCR tankers and outhouses were crude holes beside mud-brick homes.

AL AZRAQ REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan — Behind barbed-wire fences at this camp in northern Jordan, about 33,000 Syrians — half of them children — exist uneasily, housed in rows of rudimentary shelters that barely protect them from the winter cold.
As in Jordan, the world’s refugee crisis, which is intimately linked with water availability both in the homelands that people escape and in the camps where they find shelter, is large and growing.
Some 66 million people — a France-sized population — are displaced.
To help, non-governmental organizations supply water and relief groups visit to offer aid.
Azraq, 50 miles southeast, was built on unused desert land after Zaatari swelled beyond capacity just a year after opening, to more than 156,000 people.
Water and wastewater networks were constructed by the humanitarian group ACTED.
At the informal Rohingya camps in southeast Bangladesh, water pumps next to open sewers have stoked fear of disease outbreaks, and led to vaccination, clean water, and sanitation drives.
The World Health Organization reports that diptheria is “rapidly spreading among Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar,” a city in Bangladesh.
Six deaths were reported in December.
The Sahrawis have come a long way since eight years ago, when water was trucked in via UNHCR tankers and outhouses were crude holes beside mud-brick homes.

Finding drinkable water is one of the first steps in your journey to a new home.
Water Scarce Cities Initiative Hosts Technical Workshop to Tackle Tough Water Issues The World Bank’s Water Scarce Cities Initiative (WSC) provides the unique opportunity for urban water practitioners, global thought leaders, and institutions to share solutions to such complex water security issues.
By bringing together stakeholders with first hand experiences with water scarcity in urban contexts, WSC is bringing to light solutions and strategies for survival in a water scarce world.
Realizing the common global need to improve resilience to demographic shocks, particularly in fragile contexts, the World Bank’s Water Scarce Cities Initiative (WSC) hosted the Second Technical Workshop in Beirut, Lebanon.
The workshop included presentations such as the Malta water security experience and a panel discussion on Urban Water Management Challenges and Approaches.
It is critical to preserve surface, ground- and transboundary water resources through water-related investments aimed at reversing the water insecurity and fragility cycle.
Ms. Lewis reflected on her experience with the workshop, as well as with the dynamics between water insecurity and fragility: “You have systems that are undergoing significant shocks constantly…so you really need an integrated approach because the system alone or these technical areas alone can’t handle the stress from each of these shocks…Trying to bring in the support from the local governments, from the INGO sector, or from the private sector, bringing these voices to the table will help significantly in hedging the risk of investing in water management strategies in fragile states.” Watch workshop interviews, view presentations, and the full agenda, all available on the Water Scarce Cities events and engagement page.
There is still more we can do to improve urban water security in fragile contexts.
Refugee and IDP numbers continue to increase worldwide, while pressure is mounting on finite water resources.
By sharing strategies for survival in a water scarce world, WSC casts new light on how urban areas in scarcity contexts can thrive in a finite resource world.

Nekesa, though, is not one of the nearly 285,000 South Sudanese refugees living in the Bidi Bidi refugee camp.
“We are very many people who have become refugees to survive the biting hunger.
More than 11 million people in Uganda were facing food shortages and 1.6 million were on the verge of famine, according to a January report by the Ugandan government.
Entering the camp at Bidi Bidi recently was Sarah Akumu, 33, struggling to hold her two remaining children with one hand as she held a suitcase in the other.
I have decided to save my life and those of my children by going to the camp.
President Kiir has disputed the number of South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, for example.
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Rohingya refugees in B’desh suffer from lack of food, medicines, clean water.
The Rohingya Muslims, who have taken refuge in Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf border areas in Bangladesh after they fled the barbarous persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, are now suffering due to an absence of food, shelters, medicines, sanitation facilities and clean water.
People involved in providing humanitarian assistance to the refugees have called for a central coordination and proper initiatives, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said around 4,00,000 refugees have fled from the violence-affected Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state and sought refuge in Bangladesh, where the limited shelter capacity is already exhausted.
Many of over 3,50,000 refugees, staying either under open sky or at the new refugee camps and shelters, are suffering from diarrhoeal and different diseases and don’t have an access to even clean drinking water and proper medicines.
Despite the aid from the government, NGOs and many voluntary organisations, there is no relief to the refugees as medicines, sanitation facilities, clean water and shelter remain scarce.
For the proper and equal distribution of aid items to the refugees the Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner’s (DC) has already opened a control centre to receive donations and relief items.
Yesterday, India decided to send consignments of humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh, in response to the humanitarian crisis.
The statement further read that India stands ready to provide any assistance required by Bangladesh in the hour of need.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

WSSCC, WaterAid Promote WASH for Refugees and Schools.
3 July 2017: The Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is investigating the situation of migrants and refugees in humanitarian emergencies, and will present the findings at a workshop co-organized with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in September 2017.
Separately, WaterAid and clothing company H&M have launched a partnership to provide water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools.
From 2008-2016, WSSCC activities provided access to “improved” toilets for 12.8 million people, hand-washing facilities for 20 million, and helped end open defecation for over 15 million people.
Its 2016 Progress Report highlights the achievements made possible through its funding arm, the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF), since the fund was established in 2008.
The GSF has received more than US$117 million for activities in 13 countries, contributed by the governments of Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
In 2016, the fund provided for WASH professionals to take part in 10 inter-country study exchange programmes with the aim of promoting ideas, innovation and good practice.
The GSF is the only global fund specifically focusing on sanitation and hygiene, and WSSCC Director Chris Williams highlighted the GSF’s contribution to achieving target 6.2 of the SDGs (sanitation for all).
For instance, from 2008-2016, WSSCC activities provided access to “improved” toilets for 12.8 million people, and hand-washing facilities for 20 million, while helping to end the practice of open defecation for over 15 million people.
An exhibition connected with the project demonstrates the experience of water scarcity from the perspective of schoolchildren, and will be on display during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, under the name ‘Noori Tales: Stories from the Indus Delta.’ [WSSCC Press Release on Workshop] [GSF Progress Report 2016] [UN-Water Press Release] [WaterAid Online Gallery]

Dubai launches Humanitarian Accelerators to find technology-driven solutions for education, water and refugee poverty.
World / Technology / Innovation / Technology The Humanitarian Accelerators are launched in collaboration with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative and Dubai Future Accelerators.
The Dubai government launched Humanitarian Accelerators to bring together skilled and innovative professionals in the cause of aiding the humanitarian sector.
The DFA programme was launched in July 2016 to bring together government entities in Dubai and companies working on cutting-edge technologies, to accelerate the building of a relationship between companies and government.
Till date 65 international companies have participated in the Dubai Future Accelerators programme, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed with 47 others.
The Humanitarian Accelerators will address four key challenges, in the areas of education, clean water, economic opportunities for refugees and quality of online reading material and content in Arabic.
The Accelerators aim to provide quality education to all children, including refugees, through e-learning tools and innovative mechanisms, such as accessible websites, that enable young students to access interactive educational platforms regardless of where they are located.
There are overwhelming obstacles facing young students, especially those living as refugees, in gaining a formal education.
MBRGI has utilised conventional solutions to provide clean drinking water to over 10 million people.
Harnessing technology to expand this reach is the next step.

Solar energy powers clean water, business opportunities for refugees.
DAR ES SALAAM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Sadick Thenest remembers how his 8-year-old daughter had a narrow brush with death two years ago, when she contracted cholera after drinking contaminated water.
“She was so gaunt, weak and had terrible diarrhea,” said the refugee from Burundi.
“I always ensure that my children use clean and safe water,” he said.
“I have instructed them to wash their hands with soap after using a toilet.” Thenest, who works as a technician with international engineering charity Water Mission, said the health situation in the camp is improving as more people get access to clean water from a recently installed solar-powered water treatment facility.
As part of a broader initiative to help refugees access clean energy and sanitation, Water Mission is installing more such plants in three refugee camps in western Tanzania.
The $5.3 million project, funded by the Denmark-based Poul Due Jensen Foundation, is expected to provide safe water for some 250,000 refugees in Nyarugusu, Nduta and Mtendeli camps.
“We will document saved lives and ensure general public health, as a result of safe water,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
A recent shipment of 780 solar panels to Tanzania will produce 226,000 watts of power and provide a continuous supply of safe water to keep children in good health, it said in a statement.
Yet while access to clean energy for refugees and their host communities is a global priority for UNHCR, analysts say millions of displaced people still lack access to sustainable, cheap energy sources because of a lack of funding.