Child Sponsor Cameroon

Cameroon, with its population of 26.55 million (2020), is a relatively stable state, albeit one with limited scope for personal freedom, with power remaining vested in its president. Life expectancy for a child in Cameroon is just 59.29 years (2019), not helped by the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Of the 9,142,000 child population in Cameroon, a staggering 300,000 have been orphaned by AIDS and a further 45,000 are infected themselves. Many of these orphaned children, along with others who escape poverty or family breakdown, end up on the streets living through vending, begging or stealing. More than 40% of the Cameroonian population lives below the poverty line with rural areas much more affected than urban areas and 73% of children aged five and under live below the with multidimensional poverty line with 25% of them being affected by extreme poverty.

52,000 children in Cameroon die each year from malnutrition alone. Sanitation is also a major area of concern with 75% of schools in some areas having no toilets or washing facilities; overall in Cameroon 86% of urban dwellers have access to safe water dropping to 44% in rural communities. This lack of water is cited as a primary reason why many girls in Cameroon fail to attend education ~ in general attitudes towards girls in Cameroon are that they are better suited to domestic chores in any event. Even water supplies in cities such as the capital Yaounde pump out dirty, often contaminated water. As such, water related sicknesses amongst children in Cameroon are high. Despite an overall decline in poverty over the last ten years, in many areas of the country poverty has worsened with over half of these households being home to children under fifteen years of age. There are also tens of thousands of child refugees in the country.

Like many other countries in Africa, there are child sponsor programs in Cameroon, given the serious issues with children living in poverty without clean water, decent sanitation or education. Child sponsor programs in Cameroon focus on working with AIDS orphans, access to health care and education and working with communities to develop a sustainable livelihoods. You can help when you sponsor a child in Cameroon.

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