The COVID 19 pandemic has exacerbated an already fragile situation as the North-West region is facing an unprecedented security crisis. For some populations, it would take several hours of transport by car and canoe, through unsafe areas, to reach a health centre if they had to seek treatment. In addition, because of misinformation and public mistrust of government services, many people have become reluctant to the COVID-19 vaccine. It is to reverse this situation that, thanks to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding, UNICEF is supporting COVID-19 response activities in accordance with the Government of Cameroon’s national plan. In its efforts, the US government supports the deployment of COVID vaccines and helps UNICEF support the safe distribution and delivery of vaccines, including those provided by the COVAX initiative, through a strengthening of the cold chain and logistics. However, to achieve this, it is important to put in place mechanisms to encourage the use of safe and effective vaccines and the continued application of protective measures within communities. In the North- West Region, women have committed to ensuring that every member of their community has access to the vaccine to reduce the risk of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Ambitious and committed, about twenty women leaders per commune, trained and deployed in four localities of the region (Bamenda, Mbengwi, Santa & Tubah), made the fight against COVID 19 their fight. Getting people to accept vaccination is their credo. Through group educational talks, face-to-face awareness, mass awareness and radio awareness through interactive radio interviews. Their work is not easy. “It’s quite difficult because here the populations are already quite reluctant. But we must not let go because it is for the good of all,” confides Maria, one of the women. After a few information sessions with the health staff, each of these women leaders set their goals to conduct six awareness sessions in the community. This enabled them to enlist 80 other community leaders. During their different moments of sharing with others, they discuss various topics such as: COVID 19 and its manifestations, the need to reinforce barrier measures, the different waves of COVID 19, the importance of COVID 19 vaccine, the different types of vaccines available and the dosage and where to get vaccines. Thanks to their actions and their determination, throughout the month of May, nearly 7,000 people were made aware, 6,242 referred and 400 agreed to be vaccinated. Happy to be able to do a saving act, each of these women leaders believes that this initiative is timely because many people who observed the barrier measures put in place to combat the spread of COVID 19 had moved away from it. Moreover, many people who refused to accept the pandemic were still in doubt. “We bring them information just where we can go with concrete examples and take them to adhere to vaccination. The myths surrounding the COVID 19 vaccine are also clarified”. Maria points out. As a bonus to their personal experiences, these leaders enjoyed the opportunity to raise awareness in the media through radio discussions because most of them had never participated in a radio show, let alone visited a radio studio.

Les parties prenantes se sont mises d’accord sur la création de la «Plateforme Crevettes» pour venir en appui et à collaborer avec l’ensemble des acteurs opérationnels du secteur de la pêche et de l’aquaculture, ainsi que toutes les entités impliquées dans des domaines plus transversaux tels que la sécurité alimentaire, l’environnement, le développement durable et la protection sociale afin de soutenir le développement durable de la chaîne de valeur des crevettes au Cameroun.  «La création de la plateforme est une avancée importante dans nos efforts d’aider le Cameroun à rendre son secteur de la crevette plus compétitif et durable,» a dit Gilles van de Walle, Conseiller Technique Principal de de FISH4ACP, une initiative globale en faveur du développement durable de la pêche et de l'aquaculture. «L’objectif de cette plateforme est de rassembler et mobiliser les forces vives présentes au Cameroun afin de créer un environnement propice à la croissance économique, à la sécurité alimentaire et à la réduction de l’empreinte écologique de la pêche à la crevette» a-t-il ajouté. Au cours de sa première année d’implémentation, le programme FISH4ACP s’est d’abord attelé à l’analyse de la filière, afin d’en ressortir des aspects qui puissent contribuer à une meilleure exploitation du potentiel de la pêche crevettière, à accroître la compétitivité et la durabilité environnementale du secteur, augmenter les revenus et renforcer la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle dans le pays. Un groupe de travail inclusif La Plateforme sera dirigée par un Comité ad hoc, constitué de cinq responsables à savoir un Président, un Vice-Présidente, un Secrétaire général, une Secrétaire générale adjointe et une Trésorière pour un mandat d’un an renouvelable; le Comité veillera à la structuration et à la dynamisation de la Plateforme, avec l’appui de la FAO et de la Commission économique du bétail, de la viande et des ressources halieutiques de la CEMAC (CEMAC-CEBEVIRHA), qui en constituent le Secrétariat technique. Pour Martin Imoulanok, élu au poste de Président du Comité ad hoc, « la feuille de route de la plateforme en définira le fonctionnement; le maçon étant jugé au pied du mur, nous saurons répondre aux attentes de notre filière, en comptant sur l’appui et l’engagement des autres membres de la plateforme». La Plateforme Crevettes se veut un groupe de travail inclusif, animé par des bénévoles représentant toutes les parties prenantes de la chaine de valeur, notamment les groupes d'acteurs considérés comme vulnérables ou y exerçant une influence substantielle, avérée ou potentielle ; le comité ad-hoc dans sa constitution le reflète à suffisance, car constitué à la fois de membres issus du secteur privé et à 50% de femmes. Le programme FISH4ACP qui a été lancé au Cameroun en juin 2021, est une initiative globale en faveur du développement durable de la pêche et de l'aquaculture, qui vise à rendre le secteur de la crevette du pays plus compétitif et durable, en vue de favoriser la croissance économique, améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et réduire l’empreinte écologique de la pêche à la crevette. Au Cameroun, ce projet suscite beaucoup d’enthousiasme. A ce propose, le Dr Joseph Achille Yepka, représentant du Ministère de l’élevage, des pêches et industries animales (MINEPIA) déclare : « Nous fondons beaucoup d’attentes sur ce projet et espérons qu’au terme de sa mise en œuvre, nos attentes serons satisfaites. » Pour Pierre Meke, Coordonnateur National du projet pour la FAO « A la fin de la journée, la satisfaction de la FAO sera d’avoir contribué à relever la chaine de valeur crevettière au Cameroun ». L’initative FISH4ACP contribue à la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, à la prospérité économique et à la création d’emplois en garantissant la durabilité économique, sociale et environnementale des chaînes de valeur (CdVs) de la pêche et de l’aquaculture en Afrique, dans les Caraïbes et le Pacifique. Ce programme est mis en œuvre par l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO) et ses partenaires sur financement de l’Union Européenne (UE) et du Ministère fédéral allemand de la coopération économique et du développement (BMZ).

Looking out the window of the bus that would take her home, 37-year-old Hadjara Arouna uses the grey scarf around shoulder to dry her tears. The refugee settlement in Gado-Badzere in Cameroon’s East region had been a place of safety, ever since she fled the carnage that forced thousands to flee the Central African Republic. “I had never ever thought about leaving my country,” Hadjara says, as she passes through the circuit at the transit centre in Gado that  ends with her luggage being loaded onto the truck transporting the belongings of returning refugees. “I had never even imagined that I could live in Cameroon,” she adds. The 37-year-old and her three children are among 150 Central African refugees returning home from Gado, crossing at Garoua-Boulai, a bustling town on the Cameroonian side of the border. Another 150 refugees had left from Lolo settlement some four hours away by road, crossing into CAR at the border in Kentzou. It’s the first wave of 2,500 CAR refugees expected to return home by the end of 2022, in voluntary repatriation convoys facilitated by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in accordance with a tripartite agreement signed in 2019 between UNHCR and the governments of Cameroon and the Central African Republic. “I’m very happy. It really makes me happy just to think that I’m going back,” Hadjara says with a chuckle. “I wasn’t even able to eat anything this morning.”  This sentiment is a far cry from the fear that drove her to Cameroon in the first place. “We fled the war in the Central African Republic. We were told that those who started the war killed all our relatives who stayed behind. They killed my husband and his parents, and they killed my father. They were going from village to village. I don’t know who they were.” For eight years, Hadjara tried to forget the horrors of her loss and build a new life, alongside others who were forced to flee their homes. She worked in farms, volunteered for UNHCR partner NGOs carrying out projects in the settlement, and formed new bonds with neighbours, who eventually became more than friends and helped her find joy again. “I had no family, but I lived with my neighbours as one family. If I or my children were sick, they looked after us. They fed my children and they helped me do chores around the house.” But a few years ago, Hadjara’s neighbours were among 5,500 people who went back to CAR, when UNHCR began helping CAR refugees to return home starting in October 2019, following a peace and reconciliation agreement signed by the Central African government and 14 armed groups. However, the repatriations were interrupted twice - when Cameroon and CAR closed their borders because of Covid-19 in early 2020, and later because of a resurgence of violence after the December 2020 presidential election in CAR. In Gado, Hadjara started to feel the absence of her adoptive family. “I miss them so much. Now, I am sad all the time and there is no one to look after me,” she says. Meanwhile, calm began return to some areas in CAR and a significant number of refugees found their own way home. And then in April, in the Yaounde Declaration, the states hosting over 700,000 CAR refugees rallied together and, with the support of donors, development, and humanitarian partners, committed to prioritise solutions for those who had been displaced by one of the most protracted crises in Africa. One of those solutions was voluntary repatriation, where conditions allowed. “It is a refugee’s right to choose to return home and we cannot deny them that,” says the Representative of UNHCR in Cameroon, Olivier Beer, who, accompanied by government officials, came to witness the relaunch of facilitated returns. “To avoid them coming back, it is crucial to advocate first, for sustainable security in CAR, and for livelihoods, civil documents, and help in regaining properties and assets, with assistance from the international community supporting the CAR government in the return areas. These actions are necessary for their return be a sustainable solution.” The assistance provided to returnees by UNHCR, with support from donors and partners, includes some cash, food, and help in starting a livelihood activity. Longing to be reunited with her adoptive family in Baoro, Hadjara was among 10,000 refugees living in Cameroon’s Eastern façade who showed interest in returning to CAR. She was overjoyed to be part of the 2,500 persons to receive help to return home in 2022. “All I want is to be near my neighbours once again,” says Hadjara, as she readies to board the bus.  “I intend to start a business when I go home and enroll my child in school. He will often help me in his free time from classes. He will sell a little while I go to the farm. I will also raise goats,” she says with a huge grin. In the second of three buses taking the returnees home, Hadjara’s kids crane their necks into the windows, captivated by the beehive of activity as an army of refugee volunteers, UNHCR staff and partners, complete boarding and cross out items on the departure checklist. Even though Hadjara is ready and eager to go back home, she’s grateful to Cameroon and its people. “Cameroonians liked me very much. I never had a problem with them. I worked everywhere without any problem. They never owed me any money for my work. They helped me a lot. God bless them.” On her hopes for life back in CAR, Hadjara wishes only for peace. “We just need peace and the opportunity to live our daily lives.”