Cameroon

Hospitals without water and electricity are not unusual in Cameroon's rural areas. Bats frequently nest in the suspended ceilings of health care centres. Hygiene and cleanliness: think again. It is therefore not surprising that the majority of Cameroonian women prefer to give birth at home, assisted by "traditional healers". However, these assistants lack basic medical knowledge and equipment. Accordingly, the number of women who die during childbirth is unrivalled by almost anywhere else in the world.

In Cameroon, little is known about HIV/AIDS and self-determined family planning. Consequently, a good 4 to 5 % of the population are HIV-positive and there is a high rate of unplanned teenage pregnancies. In cooperation with the Cameroonian government, the German Federal Government has thus focused on mother and child health.

KfW Development Bank is supporting the government in upgrading around 200 health care centres across the country and supplying them with medical equipment. Pregnant women are given vouchers which they can use to be treated at certified health clinics for safe motherhood at affordable prices. Staff at private and public health care centres are being trained to provide better treatment to families. The facilities are also provided with medicines. Finally, young people and high-risk groups are being educated about HIV/AIDS and family planning using attractive campaigns, and can purchase condoms at affordable prices. Since 2013, the health care sector is no longer a priority area of German DC, but it is still promoted at a smaller scale, within the framework of the so-called "scope for action".

Beyond the perimeter of the big cities of Yaoundé and Douala, only a minority of people have no difficulty in accessing public services such as schools, supply of drinking water, health care facilities or markets. The population is growing and increasingly flocking to the cities, where 58 percent of all Cameroonians already have their homes.

Local authorities, particularly in the growing medium-sized towns, are grappling with migration from the rural regions. They are confronted by huge challenges: traffic is increasing, there is a lack of sanitary facilities and refuse disposal strategies, the water supply and wastewater disposal systems are insufficient, public markets and bus stations are mostly operated in an inefficient manner. In fact, the cities generally do not have enough funds to handle these tasks, and some municipal authorities are unable to cope on the technical level of service delivery too.

Using the Cameroonian Council Support Fund FEICOM, KfW Development Bank is providing selected medium-sized cities with funds for social or economic infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals, roads and markets on behalf of the German government. Furthermore, the democratically legitimised city councils are being supported and accompanied in delivering municipal services: from the participatory selection of the infrastructure projects, contracting of the construction companies, supervision of construction phase up to operation and maintenance and sustainable use of the respective infrastructure. This guarantees citizen participation, transparency and improvement in service delivery in the respective cities. In addition, the Cameroonian Fund FEICOM is strengthened with support in developing its instruments for loan and mixed financing of commercial and economic infrastructure.

Cameroon has an ecological natural heritage of global importance ‒ around 212,500 square kilometres of tropical forest, located on the edge of the Congo basin and mostly well preserved. For the locals, the tropical forest is a source of food and income, while for the country it is a significant economic resource.

But the conservation of the forests and their biodiversity is under threat. Poaching and corruption are to blame, as well as illegal deforestation and competing demands for usage. Through its commitment in this area, Germany aims to help foster the sustainable management of the tropical forests. The forest ecosystem with its economic, ecological and social functions is to remain intact.

KfW Development Bank is supporting the government by means of a basket fund in implementing its forestry policy, in sustainably managing the forests and the protected areas as well as in supporting the local population. The assistance also includes the development of both a strategy to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and of a corresponding land usage planning on a regional and local level, which is expected to aid in the resolution of conflicting utilisation claims of forest, agriculture and mining.

The future engagement will expand into the North where an improvement of rural infrastructure should foster agricultural development.

Project example - Trinational Sangha Park  (PDF, 159 KB, non-accessible)