Cameroon Joint Education Needs Asssesment (JENA)

Photo: map of cameroon, avaialable here: https://shorturl.at/bnqvC  

Article by the Global

Cameroon has experienced regressed development, the onset of conflict, and a growing humanitarian situation. Cameroon is at the lower end of the human development index, ranking 151 globally with an HDI value of 0.587

In 2023 alone, 4.7 million people needed humanitarian assistance, of which 2.7 million were targeted by the humanitarian response plan (HRP), which included projects aiming to support internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, refugees, host communities, and those left behind often in hard to reach (H2R) areas of the country.

While the priority of the HRP is life-saving assistance, the sectors, including education, have picked up the momentum and provided much-needed humanitarian assistance to children and youth affected by the education crisis; despite this, much more needs to be done as the country is in the middle of a protracted multi-faceted crisis.

In this context, the education cluster members in Cameroon have recently completed a Joint education needs assessment (JENA), conducting the assessments in the country's southwest and northwest regions, where the needs are greatest and challenges, including insecurity and access to basic education, are quite limited.

In both regions, ongoing conflicts, displacement, and a large influx of internally displaced persons have impacted the provision of quality education and rendered many education facilities unused for education or learning purposes.

This education needs assessment was a joint effort by the Cameroon education Partners with the technical and financial support of the Cameroon Education Cluster, UNICEF, UNESCO, PLAN INTERNATIONAL, STREETCHILD, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL, PAID-WA and partners of the Cameroon Education Cluster.

This JENA aimed to collect updated information about children and adolescents in and out of school to make relevant strategies and plans and adequate advocacy for the consideration of education among the priority sectors for humanitarian interventions in the conflict-affected Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.

Thanks to Global Education Cluster and all the members in Cameroon for the JENA work. Abdulahi Consulting wishes the policymakers will head timely and context-informed recommendations and that education will be prioritised as a right of those who need it most in Cameroon and elsewhere. We also believe education is the best investment in any conflict-affected emergency and early recovery settings; therefore, it should claim its position and be prioritized by all the stakeholders.

Photo: Children attending classes in neighbouring Nigeria