A YEAR IN
CAMERO09ON ITALY
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GREECE
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SUMMARY REPORT
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GOOD REASONS why Plan works in Cameroon
• Only 44% of the rural population has access to clean, safe water, and just 43% have decent sanitation SUDAN
Community members in Gadji review school improvements
• In the Baku areas where Plan works only 20% of children complete basic education • Nearly a third of children aged between 5 and 14 have to work NIGER
Our priorities in Cameroon • Working to improve the survival and health of mothers and babies Bung
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• Raising the standard of education for children and promoting their inclusion in school management • Enabling families to increase their food production and incomes
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• Supporting children and communities affected by disasters
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• Protecting the rights of the Baka minority ethnic community, tto Ko and improving their quality of life.
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CAMEROON FACTS Capital: Yaounde Population: 18 million Language: English & French Climate: The coastal plain extends 15 to 150 kilometres inland from the Gulf of Guinea and has an average elevation of 90 metres. Exceedingly hot and humid with a short dry season, this belt is densely forested and includes some of the wettest places on earth. The South Cameroon
Plateau rises from the coastal plain to an average elevation of 650 metres. Equatorial rainforest dominates this region, although its alternation between wet and dry seasons makes it is less humid than the coast. Economy: Cameroon has been following programmes advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce poverty, privatise industries, and increase economic growth.
Girls are happy collecting water from a new well in their community
“Every week, the young broadcasters air their opinions on a whole range of issues affecting children, from schooling to HIV/AIDS. The children in Agyati Bafut listen avidly.”
A YEAR IN
CAMEROON 09 SUMMARY REPORT
FOCUS ON: PREPARING YOUNG PEOPLE FOR A PRODUCTIVE ADULTHOOD Plan’s work with teenagers aims to protect their health, build their confidence and prepare them for a productive, fulfilling life. We work with communities to raise awareness of children’s rights to education, healthcare and other basics. We promote young people’s involvement in the development of their schools and communities by helping them set up youth groups and children’s parliaments. We teach young people about the effects of early marriage, HIV/AIDS, violence and hard drugs, and help them to become financially independent by offering training in a range of vocational skills.
A VOICE FOR CHILDREN
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gyati Bafut is a small, rural community around 300 miles north-west of Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon.
A farmer’s group look after their nursery plants
The Bigger Picture
Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that Cameroon faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Organised Mother and Child Health and Nutrition Action Week for the second year running in 11 health districts, to protect the health of mothers and young children • Raised standards in children’s education by building or rehabilitating 19 schools and educational centres
Families here are among the poorest in the country, planting crops and keeping livestock to earn a living and to eat. Agyati Bafut hardly seems like the kind of place where children will be taking an active part in social progress, but that’s exactly what’s happening. Plan has worked with families here to set up a children’s forum – an initiative that puts children at the heart of their community. It comes not a moment too soon. The lives of children in rural Cameroon are bound by poverty and generations of harmful traditions. Girls face particular difficulties. Cultural beliefs mean that girls do not enjoy the same status as their brothers. They are often pulled out of school to help with household chores, or to work in the fields. Fifty-seven percent of girls in rural areas are married early, exposing them to the risks that a pregnancy and childbirth at a young age will bring.
• Enabled 412 farmers to improve their food production and increase their incomes by giving them agricultural and business skills training
Many parents are unaware that the chance to go to school, or to live without the fear of abuse is a child’s right, set out in 1989’s UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Instead, their children have no choice in how their lives should develop.
• Supported birth registration for 300 children, giving them a place in society and rights in law
Involvement and rights
Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!
But in Agyati Bafut, things are changing. Children here have their own children’s forum, a group where they can meet friends, learn about their rights and share their views on how their lives and community should develop. The forum is the result of a partnership between local children, their families, Plan and the village chief, who recognised that children have ideas and energy that can transform the future of their communities. Plan helped to train community members to supervise the forum, which meets twice a week.
To learn more about Plan’s work in Cameroon visit plan.org.au/ourwork/westafrica/cameroon
Produced for Cameroon by the Australian National Office.
The children are organised into three groups, according to their age, and draw pictures, compose articles or write poems to put across their views. Their activities are part of a wider campaign launched by Plan to promote children’s rights, and the involvement of children in the progress of their schools and the wider community. As part of the campaign, Plan joined with children and local radio stations to put together a radio program. Radio is an ideal medium for reaching a wide audience in rural Africa, where many are illiterate and TV or the internet are beyond most people’s reach. Every week, the young broadcasters air their opinions on a whole range of issues affecting children, from schooling to HIV/AIDS. The children in Agyati Bafut listen avidly. Building success Filbert is an active member of the children’s forum, and is very glad he joined. Filbert’s parents are separated, so he lives with his grandmother who tried hard to keep him in school but couldn’t afford his books or uniform. At the age of 12, with just a year to go before his exams, he was forced to leave. After talking with Plan field workers, Filbert was put in touch with social workers, who in turn contacted his grandmother, and then his father who agreed to enrol him in school in nearby Bamenda, and to care for him. Filbert passed his exams, thanks to his hard work and determination. But his success was also down to his involvement in the children’s forum, which has given him the skills, confidence and motivation he needs – to succeed educationally and to make a positive contribution to his community for years to come. Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.
“Many parents are unaware that the chance to go to school, or to live without the fear of abuse is a child’s right, set out in 1989’s UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
plan.org.au