deutsche Fassung vorhanden
Under the auspices of the United Nations Association for Cameroon (Association des Nations Unies pour le Cameroun – ANU-CAM), some 50 United Nations Youth Delegates visited villages in southern Cameroon, among them Lobé and Mbeka in the Kribi district from August 28 to 31, 2013. Equipped with cameras and dictaphones, the UN Youth Delegates went door to door to question residents and village chiefs about the living conditions of the local population. Their aim was to get a detailed picture of the realities of rural life, the difficulties with which the local populations are confronted and the contributions made by various government agencies. In particular, their questions covered such topics as social affairs and the law, social communication, local governance, education, health and hygiene, etc.

In the course of their work, the UN Youth Delegates also visited the local delegation of the Ministry of Social Affairs, where the delegate, Kendeck Pem, explained: “We inform the local population about their rights, and in particular the rights of women and children. This is done in podium discussions on local radio and other events organized by us. But despite our efforts, the assimilation of this information by the local populations is a very slow process.” Next, the UN Youth Delegates visited the local delegation of the Ministry of Advancement of Women and the Family. In the absence of the Delegate, a staff member informed the visitors about the Ministry’s tasks: “We mainly work together with various women’s associations, and if we hear about problems in a given family, we examine the situation to see how we can help. The ministry also works on strengthening the rights of the family, in particular in the area of inheritance law, which frequently leads to problems here in Kribi. We developed a special training program to put our family support measures on a more solid base.”

With the information gathered and documented during their visits to residents, village chiefs and the Ministries, the UN Youth Delegates will return to the country’s capital, Yaoundé, to report on their work in the villages of Kribi.

Patricia Nya Njaounga