Ahead of the Summit of the Future that will take place in New York, Humanitarian organization, Plan International Cameroon took active part in a two-day national consultation workshop held from September 12 to 13, 2024 in the Ministry of External Relations in Yaounde.
As part of Plan International Cameroon’s multilateral diplomatic engagements towards the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future, grounds were laid down for the launch of a Pre-Summit or national consultation meeting, that led to the adoption of the Yaoundé Declaration.
The Yaounde declaration is the main document that will be put forward during upcoming discussions at the UN Summit of the Future in New York, USA.
Plan International Cameroon, a non-profit organization advancing children’s rights and equality for girls, carried its advocacy calls during this two-day pre-summit held in the nation’s capital city.
From September 12 to 13, 2024, the humanitarian organization brought some salient issues affecting adolescent girls and young women.
Summit for the Future as a Summit of Hope
In a panel discussion held on day two that was placed under the theme: « Youth and Future Generations: Summit for the Future as a Summit of Hope”, Plan International Cameroon was at the forefront.
Speaking on behalf of the Country Director of Plan International Cameroon, Dr. Eddy Donkeng, Head of the Communication and Influencing Department enlightened the audience on the crucial space and role that adolescent girls and young women can actively play in the near future.
He captivated the attention of participants by highlighting the need to engage young people but mostly the young girls who are a milestone in the development of a nation and transformative agendas.
In an interview granted to media practitioners, Dr Eddy Donkeng praised this initiative of the government to gather officials from more than 14 ministerial departments, UN Agencies, international organizations, Parliamentarians, leaders of civil society organizations, and representatives of youth-led associations, who together brainstormed on some important issues that will be tabled in the upcoming UN summit of the Future in New-York.
Dr Eddy Donkeng stated: “As you know, Plan International is a youth-centered organization, and there is no way for us to talk about the future without the young people. In all our interventions we include young people, the reason why it was important for us to lead this process as we believe that, young girl is capital for the future. The young girl of today is the woman of tomorrow. We are in to support all initiatives carried by young girls by pushing them ahead and to be the main agenda in the future.”
As Spokesperson of Plan International Cameroon, Dr Donkeng Eddy did not fail to congratulate Mr. Yang Philemon, Cameroon’s representative who now fully sits at the United Nations General Assembly.
He said: “We have to thank Cameroon for the election of Mr. Yang Philemon as Representative and Country’s Ambassador in the United Nations General Assembly. This is something very important for Cameroon.”
To amplify calls and the advocacy of young people, the floor was granted to Charlotte Ayeah, a youth delegate from the North West region and Plan International Sponsorship alumnus.
“Approximately 1000 Girls (15-24) get infected by HIV every day in Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 25% of all new HIV infections despite representing only 10% of the Population in this age group. In Cameroon, AGYW with HIV account for 30% of the population, and it’s 9 times higher than among Adolescent boys and young men.” She pointed-out.
According to Charlotte Ayeah, many youths are left aside when it comes to implementing important decisions that are linked to their future and taking part in this pre-summit is an immense opportunity offered to her by Plan International Cameroon.
“It was important for me to be here, to echo all of these and to ensure that the voices of young people are equally heard and as well as their needs and priorities are factored into the document or the deliverables that will come out of this pre-summit.”
In her presentation, she mentioned the fact that the upcoming summit of the future is very significant for girls.
She said: “Girls continue to be the largest excluded group in the World, they face discrimination and abuse simply for being young and female. Too often Girls fall between the dominant agendas of Women and Children’s rights. In Cameroon, the situation is no different as Adolescent Girls and Young Women keep grappling with issues around GBV, teenage pregnancy, discrimination, early marriages, and little representation in decision-making spaces.”
Transformative Actions for Young People
24 years old, Charlotte in her presentation urged decision-makers and different stakeholders present at the session, to focus more attention on girls and act on the eight (08) Transformative Actions for Adolescent Girls and Young People outlined in the “Girls’ Pact for the Future”.
The eight transformative actions outlined are: the provision of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services; Intensification of efforts toward Gender Equality; Prioritization of social and economic development of Adolescent Girls and Young Women; and Participation of young girls at the national level needs to be further mainstreamed; Protect the Human Rights of Adolescent Girl and Young Women while promoting values of inclusion and integration; Climate Change and its disproportionate impact on Adolescent Girls and Young Women; More involvement of Adolescent Girl and Young Women in Science, technology and innovation and Invest in Adolescent Girls and Youth to end Poverty.
“The intensification of comprehensive sexuality education and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services because this is a problem we have when it comes to teenage pregnancies and deaths resulting to abortions, and also when it comes to girls and their body autonomy. Sometimes, young girls have little or no information on their reproductive rights and tend to make uninformed decisions. We must have more intensified interventions around these issues. Additionally, we made recommendations on the fact that adolescent girls and young women need to be included in decision-making spaces, especially decisions that have to do with them specifically. There are a lot of platforms that incorporate young people but how many adolescents, young girls and boys are on these platforms?” Charlotte Ayeah indicated.
Added to the above recommendations, she stated the fact that young girls should be granted protection in humanitarian settings and other conflict-affected areas like in the Far-North, North-West, and South-West regions.
“Most importantly, there is the protection of young girls and boys in conflict situations, that is upholding their human rights. I come from the North-West region where for the past 8 years, I have seen violence, I have lived in violence and I have seen how it is disproportionately affecting adolescent girls and young women from achieving their full potential. It is important, especially in our Cameroonian context, that this is taken into account because, they are exposed to sexual harassment, violence, and abuses.” She narrated.
The two-day national consultation workshop that kicked- off on September 12, 2024, was chaired by Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with the Commonwealth, Felix Mbayu, representing the Minister of External Relations
During this opening session, Mohamed Bah, Country Director of Plan International Cameroon, delivered his keynote address which spotlighted the 8 Transformative Actions identified by adolescent girls and young people, which are drawn from the Girls’ Pact for the Future research, conducted in partnership with UNICEF.
About the UN Summit of the Future
The Summit of the Future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance cooperation on critical challenges and address gaps in global governance. It will reaffirm existing commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Charter, and move towards a reinvigorated multilateral system better positioned to impact people’s lives positively.
As a gathering of global leaders expected to shape tomorrow’s agenda, the Summit of the Future scheduled in New York, United States of America, from the 22nd to the 23rd of September 2024, sets the pace for redefining paths towards a brighter present and more secure tomorrow.
The highly awaited event as indicated is an opportunity for world leaders to showcase the power of international collaboration in addressing both current and emerging challenges.
Elise Kenimbeni
