This death toll from a cholera epidemic in Cameroon's North and Far North provinces stands at 420, according to public health minister André Mama Fouda. The outbreak of the waterborne disease throws an unwelcome spotlight on inadequate access to clean water and sanitation, particularly in the country’s rural north.
A countrywide survey of the incidence of rape in Cameroon has returned disturbing statistics: 20 percent of the nearly 38,000 women surveyed reported having been raped; another 14 percent said they had escaped a rape attempt.
"Developed countries have failed to respect the Kyoto Protocol which compelled them to reduce latest 2008 emissions of greenhouse gases by five percent. There is therefore need for new engagements to be taken at the Copenhagen Summit." Decisive words from Cameroon's minister for the environment, Pierre Hele.
Construction has begun on a new dam at the confluence of the Lom and Pangar rivers in Cameroon. The government is pushing the project as key to addressing an energy shortfall, allowing for economic growth; observers believe the plan may only increase the country's vulnerability to drought.
Crouched on a low wooden stool in front of his mud hut in the village of Pangar, Alain Selembe puffs away at his clay pipe, his gaze lost in the surrounding forest, quite oblivious to the noise made by his two playing daughters. All he hears is the rumbling of bulldozers opening up a 30 kilometre road from Deng Deng village to the confluence of the Lom and Pangar rivers, where the government plans to construct a new dam.
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