Latest Embassy News

Refugee Grant Agreement Signed Between the United States and the Center for Rehabilitation and Abolition of Torture (CRAT)

The United States Government and the Center for Rehabilitation and Abolition of Torture (CRAT) held a ceremony on August 3, 2006, to sign a Refugee Grant Agreement resulting in twenty thousand dollars of assistance (close to eleven million Francs cfa) to be donated by the United States to CRAT. The Center for Rehabilitation and Abolition of Torture has been designated as a grant recipient under the Ambassadors’ Fund for Refugees Program.  The grant will be used by CRAT to provide psychosocial and mental health support to more than two thousand urban refugees in Yaounde. In his opening ceremony remarks at the United States Embassy—Yaounde, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Daniel Whitman acknowledged “the extreme hospitality of the Cameroon people and the Cameroon government in helping people reconstruct their lives.”

The Agreement was signed on behalf of CRAT by Project Manager Ajuo Basil Tifu. Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Daniel Whitman represented the United States Government. 

Due to its geographic position and socio-economic situation, Cameroon attracts thousands of refugees and asylum seekers every year. A majority of the refugees come from countries in Central and West Africa, such as the Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Recent statistics show that 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers are present in Cameroon. 

These refugees are dependant on help from the Cameroon Red Cross, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and certain NGOs. Refugees often manifest the following signs and symptoms: irritability, insomnia, anxiety and depression. They also indulge in high-risk activities, such as prostitution and sexual promiscuity, which give rise to HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmissible Diseases (STD). Their nutritional status and personal hygiene are always very poor.

The Center for Rehabilitation and Abolition of Torture will appoint a coordinator who shall be responsible for the technical and financial management of the project objectives. As such, the coordinator will be responsible for coordinating the monitoring, evaluation and reporting of field activities; the overall management and coordination of project activities; and ensuring the proper partnership of all stakeholders in the project. CRAT will also prepare periodic reports on their progress. 

The inclusion of some thirty refugees from all over the African continent as guests to a formal signing ceremony between the United States Government and CRAT gave those benefiting most directly from the accord—the refugees themselves—a chance to tell their individual stories to the media. The presence of a diverse group of refugees broke the perception that refugees constitute a uniform group and assured that their concerns were heard in a public forum by CRAT authorities as well as journalists, thereby adding yet another layer of accountability to the grant agreement.