Médecins Sans Frontières - Communities living with the long-lasting consequences of conflict in Cameroon

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB255403

Date taken / Date Recorded 05/12/2025 10:02 AM

Country Cameroon

Detailed location Mora

Commissioning section MSF-SWITZERLAND

Photographer / videographer / producer Vanessa Fodjo

Copyright Vanessa Fodjo/MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available no

Project section OCG

Editor's rating ★★★ (F)

Maximum Size 5712px × 4284px 1.20 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist This year marks ten years of MSF’s presence in Mora, in Cameroon’s Far North region. Yet the reality remains unchanged: communities living near the Nigerian border continue to face the daily impacts of insecurity. After a decade of violence, these consequences are no longer exceptional events — they have become part of everyday life, shaping how people move, work, access care, and imagine their future. Both communities and humanitarian workers live with the chronic stress and psychological scars left by this protracted conflict.
Since 2009, the Lake Chad Basin crisis across Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon has turn into a major regional humanitarian emergency. As of August 2025, the four countries hosted approximately 6.3 million affected people — including 3.2 million IDPs, 2.6 million returnees, and more than half a million refugees. In Cameroon’s Far North region alone, XXX of refugees and IDPs live alongside already-vulnerable host communities.
Although displacement slightly decreased in 2025, violence has not. This year alone, more than 1,500 security incidents were recorded. In September, MSF teams at Mora District Hospital treated multiple victims from an attack that occurred at the Nigerian border, a reminder that the conflict remains active and unpredictable.
These long-term consequences are devastating for a region already facing extreme poverty (69.2%), recurrent drought, and limited access to essential services. The Far North is the poorest region in Cameroon, that hosted 18% of the national population but only 8% of its doctors. In Mora district, where MSF supports the hospital and the Kourgui health centre, communities and MSF staff continue to support one another, showing resilience despite the unrelenting pressures of this cross-border conflict.
This communication initiative aims to amplify the voices of those directly affected — survivors, displaced families, local health workers, and MSF teams. It also aims to alert the public and stakeholders to the persistent humanitarian needs in a context where funding cuts are placing lives at risk, including more than 17,000 malnourished children in the Far North region.