Auteur/autrice : TimesNews2

La cérémonie de signature du protocole d’accord a eu lieu ce 15 Juin 2022 dans la salle de conférence numéro un du ministère des affaires sociales à Yaoundé.  Les deux parties ont été représentées au plus haut niveau par Pauline Irène NGUENE, Ministre des affaires sociales du Cameroun et Marguerite BELOBO représentante pays de la fondation Fairmed. Les deux personnalités ont paraphé l’accord cadre qui structure le nouveau partenariat qui va s’étaler sur les cinq prochaines années. Le premier accord ayant récemment expiré.  Le nouveau protocole est organisé en un préambule, 6 chapitres, 13 articles élaborés en 5 points essentiels qui vont de l’objet à la cible en passant par le domaine de compétence et les engagements. Le centre d’intérêt majeur de cet accord cadre est l’amélioration des conditions de vie des personnes handicapées et des peuples autochtones vulnérables du Cameroun. Le domaine de coopération énonce la promotion et la protection des droits, le renforcement des capacités, le développement inclusif à base Communautaire, l’accès aux services de santé, l’accès à la citoyenneté et le partage d’informations non confidentielles. Au niveau des engagements, le ministère des affaires sociales met à la disposition de la fondation Fairmed les données et informations non confidentielles. Le Minas va contribuer à la visibilité des activités réalisées par la Fondation Fairmed. Le Minas va aussi apporter une contrepartie technique dans la réalisation des activités des projets, faciliter la participation de Fairmed aux plateformes nationales et enfin œuvrer pour la finalisation et la mise en œuvre de la stratégie nationale de DIBC. La Fondation Fairmed devra apporter un appui financier en accompagnant l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre de la stratégie nationale du DIBC, accompagner le Minas au niveau local à travers le développement des partenariats et la recherche des financements et également faciliter le suivi et l’évaluation en faisant tenir de façon périodique des rapports d’activités au Minas. Les deux parties se sont tour à tour félicitées, à travers les discours de circonstance, de la qualité des termes de ce partenariat qui est aussi tributaire d’une coopération qui débute en 1959 avec l’arrivée au Cameroun de la Fondation de droit Suisse Fairmed, à l’époque connue sous l’appellation « Aide aux Lépreux Emmaüs Suisse ». La Fondation affirme que :   « Depuis des années au Cameroun Fairmed développe des projets avec les communautés en partenariat avec les autorités et organisations locales actives dans les domaines relevant de son mandat. Fairmed vole au secours des personnes défavorisées. Elle leur donne les moyens de revendiquer le droit fondamental à la santé indépendamment de toute considération religieuse, de genre, sociale ou politique. » Ses axes d’intervention sont entre autres, les maladies tropicales négligées à manifestation cutanée à l’exemple de la lèpre, la promotion de la santé, l’accès aux soins de santé, la prévention de la maladie, l’accès à la citoyenneté des personnes vivant avec un handicap, la promotion et la protection des droits des personnes handicapées (PVH) et peuples autochtones… Pour le Cameroun, le contexte est favorable à cet accord. Le 28 Décembre 2021, le Président de la République Paul BIYA avait ratifié la convention des Nations Unies sur les droits des personnes handicapées, adoptée le 13 décembre 2006. Une volonté qui se répercute selon la Ministre des Affaires Sociales, Pauline Irène NGUENE. « Dans la mise en place d’un socle de protection sociale à travers les stratégies sectorielles et séquentielles que sont la Politique Nationale de Protection Sociale (PNPS) et la Stratégie Nationale de Développement 2020-2030 (SND30) qui font de l’encadrement et de l’accompagnement des personnes socialement vulnérables en général et celles des personnes handicapées de manière spécifique, une priorité nationale. »  Jean Patient Tsala

Cameroon played host to the first ever held Yaounde International forum on disinformation. The two-day event took place from June 13 to 14, 2022 at institut français du Cameroun. Administrative authorities, Diplomats, Experts in Factchecking, Journalists, bloggers, students and other key actors engaged in combatting fake news gathered in Yaounde, Cameroon from June 13 to 14, 2022 as part of a two-day event organized by local based NGO known as Adisi Cameroon in partnership with CFI medias. The event which was a grand premiere in the Central African sub-region was dubbed the Yaounde International Forum on Disinformation. Speaking at the opening session of the Yaounde International forum on disinformation, Paul-Joel Kamtchang, Executive Secretary of Adisi Cameroon said the proliferation of fake news has increased with time due to access to internet and abusive usage of social networks by people. A phenomenon which to him has to be strangled by all means as it hampers the well-being of several families and governments. According to Paul- Joel, this encounter is a key indicator of how dangerous fake news, disinformation, misinformation and poor information could impact and break our lives. And this calls for immediate actions that can counteract this scourge. He underscored the need for concerted efforts in order to tackle disinformation which in turn paves the way to hate speech. He made the call to all key actors notably journalists, bloggers and government officials who are at the heart of daily activities in the country. As a renown investigative journalist, data and digital rights’ activist, Paul-Joel Kamtchang has expressed the will for governments to put in place a framework law on access to information that will help boost open data. In his address, Paul-Joel Kamtchang equally paid last tributes to Journalist and crusader against disinformation, Jean Saint-Clair Maka Gbossokotto from the Central African Republic, who died in February 2022. French Ambassador to Cameroon, Christophe Guilhou praised the initiative and mostly the support of CFI Medias in organizing such an event on a problematic issue that affects the world, yet very crucial in Cameroon and the Central African Republic. Ambassador Christophe Guilhou who is active on social networks has faced several threats and has been a subject of fake news with regards to his diplomatic mission in Cameroon, said this cometogether will help move forward collective responsibility and initiatives to fight against disinformation. He said Adisi Cameroon alongside CFI medias and other partners have paced-up on a scourge which fragilizes our societies. On his part, Thierry Vallat, Chief Executive Manager of CFI said the forum comes at a right moment and its organization in Yaounde is well-chosen as Cameroon is a hub in the CEMAC sub-region. Mr. Thierry Vallat outlined the fact that the Yaounde international forum on disinformation acts as a contributive piece in highlighting the spirits of populations and besides, it is a healing process undertaken in order to squizz out disinformation which is a 21st century ill. “The fight against disinformation is our first priority at CFI because if we don’t have or do good information, we don’t have good journalists…” He added. With the major objective to construct a national and international synergy on counteracting the proliferation of fake news in Cameroon, the Yaounde international forum on disinformation has indepthly explored means that will help in advancing the fight. Experts from countries such as Senegal, Benin, Cote d’ivoire, Mali, the Central African Republic, Cameroon and France just to name these few, have mooted strategies at all levels. Elise Kenimbeni

In as much as Cameroon ratified several human rights conventions, and has made binding international commitments to adhere to the standards laid down in these universal human rights documents, there is a galloping rate of Gender-Based violence cases on people of the same sex having sexual relationships.   Josephine 34 is an intersex living in Yaounde, the nation’s capital of Cameroon. She was born with both female and male organs but today identifies herself as a man. For several years now, Josephine has been rejected by members of her family because of her genital organs which to them could only be explained as an act of pure witchcraft. The young intersex was even chased from home by her parents and sought refuge in her elder sister’s house, in a little suburb of Yaounde. Despite the fact that she lives with her elder sister, the latter equally degrades most of the time. Josephine told us she is even deprived at times of food and to play with her sister’s kids. “Do not play with my children, you will contaminate them with your witchcraft” her sister says all the time. 34 years old intersex said the worst situation experienced so far was when one of her friends who knew her situation exposed it in a social media group just because of a little misunderstanding that sparked quarrels between them. Josephine said she was thoroughly insulted and treated with all evil names. “On that day I was feeling very uncomfortable and I wanted to die! I even cursed the day I was born. I cursed my parents who rejected me. Everything seemed bitter…” Our interviewee confided herself to us and said it is thanks to “Alternatives Cameroun”, a human rights community-based organization fighting for the social inclusion of LGBTI persons, that she was recruited and integrated among the staff of Yaounde. Apart from going to her workplace, Josephine spends time lamenting in her room and calls for God’s help. The story of Josephine is almost the same as that of Claude, an intersex encountered in the economic city of Douala during a two-day workshop organized in May 2021 by Humanity First Cameroun Plus. Claude who is today a father of two children was born intersex and on his birth certificate, he was identified as female but his male organs are dominant. Claude said he was once molested to death by an angry mob just because his aunt discovered his two sex and alerted the neighbourhood in which they were living at that time. The cases of Josephine and Claude are similar to the numerous cases faced by lesbian, Gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex, LGBTI in Cameroon who just by suspicion are trapped by people and molested without any defense. Bijou, as she is called, is an intersex person who was sexually assaulted, beaten, and humiliated by a group of men in Yaounde in November 2021. Just because Bijou refused the advances of this group of people in a drinking spot, she was caught and later on filmed by her perpetrators who maltreated her for close to two hours. The video that went viral on social media was condemned by Human rights defenders and the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS, CAMFAIDS to which she belongs as a beneficiary filed a complaint to the police. Nickel Kamen Liwandi, the Executive Director of CAMFAIDS outrageously condemned this act as criminal and called for justice. The verdict pronounced by the court of first instance in Yaounde in February, 25th 2022, condemned Mr. Foundikou Kassimou, the main author of the inhumane treatment inflicted on Bijou. He was granted six months of imprisonment and had to pay a fine of 650.000 Francs CFA about 1300 US dollars. LGBTI people are frequently subject to mass arrests, arbitrary detention, torture, and violence of all sorts. Whereas Article 5 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, it is stated that: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” And Article 9 states that: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” According to the 2021 annual report of the unity platform, 4116 cases of Gender-based violence(GBV) were registered in the course of the research undertaken. The 31 pages’ report written in French has been dubbed: « Le cri d’une communauté. De la désinformation au drame. » It states the various types of violence which affect the LGBTI community. As indicated in this investigative piece, 2936 cases are described as psychological, that is, close to 71%, and which are mainly made up of family rejection, insults, defamation, hate speech, and discrimination just to name a few. The President of the Unity Platform made up of 34 organizations who advocate for human rights in Cameroon has indicated the need for a follow-up and monitoring of Gender-based violence cases which are increasing significantly as time passes by. Michel Engama said there is need to worry and government should take the bulls by the horns to bring the situation at heels. In Cameroon, the first Penal Code adopted in 1965 did not criminalize same-sex sexual activity, however, an amendment introduced in 1972 added the offense of ‘homosexuality’ which has been retained until today. According to the 2016 Penal Code in its Article 347-1, sexual relations with a person of the same sex are prohibited with a penalty of between six months to five years’ imprisonment, as well as a fine. By Elise Kenimbeni