Rebuilding the Basics: Restored Infrastructure Changing Lives in Cameroon’s Far North, North-West and South-West Regions

Cameroon’s crisis-affected regions are shaped by different realities, but they share a common experience of years of disruption that has weakened essential services and tested community resilience. In the Far North, insecurity linked to violent extremism, climate shocks, and displacement has placed immense strain on already fragile health systems. In the North-West and South-West regions, a prolonged sociopolitical crisis has disrupted public services, damaged infrastructure, and interrupted access to education, water, and healthcare.

Throughout 2025, UNDP Cameroon’s work across these regions has focused on restoring the basics people rely on most, including health centres, water systems, schools, community roads, public spaces, and other shared social and economic infrastructure. This approach has recognized that recovery and stability begin with everyday needs.

In the Far North, access to healthcare has remained one of the most urgent challenges. Many health facilities have been damaged, understaffed, or overwhelmed by growing numbers of displaced families, leaving pregnant women and young children particularly vulnerable. With the support of the UNDP Regional Stabilization Facility (RSF), the rehabilitation of health centres and maternity units has helped bring essential care closer to communities that have gone too long without reliable services.

At the Logone Birni District Medical Centre, the impact has been immediate. “From just 10 women initially, we now have over 40 pregnant women seeking care here,” says Nurse Abali. “The water here helps us a lot, not only for the maternity ward but for the whole hospital. You can’t imagine the number of lives you have saved.” For families who had lost confidence in local services, functioning health centres has restored trust and offered reassurance that care would be available when it mattered most.

In the South-West, intervention efforts in 2025 have been closely tied to safe water after years of disruption forced many communities to rely on unsafe and distant sources. In Bonadikombo, the daily search for water shaped household routines, health conditions, and economic activity.

“We suffered a lot,” recalls Ejobo Eric Ewumbue, Quarter Head of Bonadikombo. “Our wives and daughters would leave the house before dawn just to find water. The lack of clean water was one of our biggest challenges.”

With the support of the UNDP Recovery Programme under the Presidential Plan for Reconstruction and Development(PPRD), the rehabilitation of water systems, including solar-powered boreholes, has brought lasting relief. “Now, water is just a few steps away,” says Neh Tabukong, a mother of five. “My children no longer suffer from water-related diseases, and I do not have to spend hours walking to get water. I even have time to run my small business.” Alongside water infrastructure, restored health centres, schools, and public spaces have helped communities regain a sense of normalcy after years of uncertainty.

In the North-West, the crisis has left its deepest mark on education. Schools were closed, damaged, or abandoned, leaving thousands of children without safe learning spaces. In Old Town Bamenda, Islamic Nursery and Primary School survived more on determination than on infrastructure after parts of it were set on fire in 2018.

“The classrooms were broken, benches dilapidated, and teaching was a daily struggle,” recalls School Manager Mallam Mutari Amisu. “Despite these hardships, parents trusted the school, teachers pushed on, and children showed up every morning. It was tough, but we never gave up.”

Today, the school tells a different story. Reconstructed classrooms, a computer lab, improved sanitation facilities, a secure perimeter fence, and inclusive access features have restored safety and dignity to the learning environment. “Our classrooms are now spacious and well ventilated,” says Head Teacher Mrs. Mekwatc Vivian. “Teaching is easier, lessons are more engaging, and enrollment has increased because parents see this as a proper learning environment again.”

Together, these efforts reflect UNDP Cameroon’s integrated approach to crisis response, supporting stabilization in the Far North, advancing recovery and development in the North-West and South-West, and complementing wider programmes across the country that strengthen resilience, livelihoods, and inclusive development.