Cameroon: sounding the alarm before the waters rise

In 2024, floods hit Cameroon's Far North with a violence unseen in twenty years: 459,000 people were affected, 135,000 were displaced. Entire villages were cut off for days with no information, and with no link to humanitarian teams.

The question that followed was not only how to respond after the disaster but also was: how do we make sure communities are ready before the waters rise?

That is the purpose of the SOLIS Bot deployment SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is launching in the region, as part of a disaster risk reduction project with the local NGO Tammoundé. The pilot is just beginning, impact figures will come, but the system is already in place, six weeks ahead of the rainy season:

• a "Flood preparedness" information center co-designed in workshops with the communities: preparedness checklist, evacuation routes, emergency contacts, in French, Mafa and Shuwa Arabic, with voice notes recorded by the local team,
• broadcast templates pre-approved by WhatsApp as early as April, in a live emergency, the 48 hours approval takes would be too long,
• a network of community focal points: over 2,000 registered members, including trusted relays identified in every target village, equipped with a five-question reporting form,
• an early-warning system that notifies the team the moment consultations spike or several relays report rising water, with systematic human validation before any broadcast goes out.

The bet is simple: a number communities know and trust before the crisis will be even more effective during it. In areas where access to certain villages is limited during the rainy season, this digital link makes it possible to stay in touch with communities when travel becomes more difficult.