Present in Cameroon since 1978, CARE Cameroon has a long history of working on agriculture, natural resource management, and climate change adaptation, and is present in six of the country’s ten regions. In Cameroon, CARE works in three main areas: (1) effective, sustainable and inclusive economic development for youth and women, including climate change; (2) the right to accessible and quality health services; and (3) early recovery from humanitarian crisis situations.

CARE Cameroon has established strong partnerships with local councils and governments. One of the successful initiatives achieved by CARE Cameroon in recent years has been the integration of the Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis (CVCA) tool to better mainstream climate change adaptation into the local planning process. CARE Cameroon has been using the CVCA tools since 2014 and, thanks to strong partnerships with local councils and the National Participatory Development Program, elements of the CVCA have been integrated into the national participatory planning toolkit to better mainstream climate change adaptation into council development plans.

CARE Cameroon works particularly with young people and women on resilient economic development. Their approach combines a variety of different strategies, including High Intensity Labour Force (HILO) projects that give temporary employment to crisis-affected populations, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA), professional training and micro-business development.