At visit to Minawawo Refugee Camp: Ambassador pledges continuous EU support to refugees.

Chataigner was speaking during a visit of a team of diplomat of some EU member countries accredited to Yaounde to Minawao.

Addressing the refugees, Chataigner said the EU and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, remain committed to supporting them and their children alongside host communities. 

The diplomat stated that the goal remains to ensure access to education, health, water, and energy, while building skills that allow families to earn income and live in dignity. 

The visit also marked the launch of the ‘Solutions Alternatives au Programme de Minawao’, an initiative for durable solutions in the Camp.

The delegation, which included the ambassadors of Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy, also inspected some resilience and economic recovery projects under the Team Europe framework.

At the camp, which hosts over 70,000 refugees who fled Boko Haram violence, the delegation toured income-generating activities run by asylum seekers. 

These included; a restaurant managed by a six-woman Common Initiative Group, a sewing centre, a grain storage facility serving 151 hectares of cultivated land, a mill, a fish farming project, and a tree-planting site. They also viewed empowerment exhibitions supported by the United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF and Germany.

Earlier in Mora, the team visited, the Resilience in the Lake Chad Basin project, RESILAC 2. Funded by the EU and the French Development Agency, AFD to the tune of €40 million (approximately over 26 Billion FCFA), it covers Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria.

The programme, it was stated, supports economic recovery, social cohesion, and climate resilience in areas affected by violence and displacement. During the visit, it was disclosed that 5 Billion FCFA of the funding is allocated to Cameroon.

Still in Mora, the ambassadors inspected an agricultural track rehabilitated under the Intensive Labour Approach, HIMO, scheme which provides temporary income for youth and vulnerable people while improving rural infrastructure.

The project is implemented by Action contre la Faim, (Action Against Hunger), CARE, and Groupe URD with local partners.

Meanwhile in Maroua, the delegation launched a new office coordinating projects co-financed by the EU and Germany around Minawao, including PETRADEP and Lake Chad Basin Commission initiatives.

The ambassadors during their engagements also discussed with civil society groups working on human rights, protection, education, and social cohesion.

According to reports, discussions covered security, communal tensions, forced displacement, and the needs of women, youth, internally displaced persons, and host communities.

The visiting diplomats later had a dinner in Maroua with microfinance institutions and local value chain actors. Talks focused on access to credit, land, technical support, and expectations from Team Europe.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3793 of Tuesday May 19, 2026