U.S. Embassy Awards Mouvement Pour la Defense de l’Humanité et l’Abolition de la Torture with a Grant to Increase Access to Safe Drinking Water and Reduce Food and Nutrition Gaps in West Region
Yaoundé, Cameroon— The U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé is pleased to announce that local organization Mouvement pour la Défense de l’Humanité et l’Abolition de la Torture (MDHAT) has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 Julia Taft Refugee Fund. This fund was created to support local initiatives that improve the lives of refugees and/or returnees. MDHAT received $24,400 (14.6 million F CFA) to construct one borehole, disinfect six wells, provide psychosocial support and therapy to trauma victims, and to empower refugee women with farm tools, agricultural inputs, and technical skills for crop production and sales, bookkeeping, basic accounting, and pre-and post-harvest management in Bafang, Haut-Nkam Division, in the West Region. These resources will serve a community of 3,500, including 1,500 out-of-camp refugees, by increasing income and access to safe drinking water, reducing food and nutrition gaps, and building community trust and self-esteem. The grant supports training for maintenance and medium repairs of the borehole to ensure its proper functioning, and will organize water, sanitation, and hygiene best practices workshops to fight against waterborne diseases.
This is the 15th consecutive year that the United States government has awarded a Cameroonian organization with a Julia Taft grant. The United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance in Cameroon, contributing over $82 million (49.2 billion F CFA) in fiscal year 2021 to provide food, health, nutrition, water, shelter, and other services for vulnerable populations. The United State government provides food to more than 1.2 million of the most vulnerable people in Cameroon – refugees, the internally displaced, and others affected by crisis.
The United States government recognizes the hospitality of the government and people of Cameroon in continuing to host more than 470,000 refugees from neighboring countries. Protecting the rights of refugees and ensuring they have access to livelihood activities, health, and education for their children is fundamental for regional stability. The United States stands ready to continue working with the Cameroonian government to support refugees.