An Integrated Project for the Empowerment of At-Risk Adolescent girls, women
and OVCs in the North West Region, Cameroon
Submitted by:
Association for Sustainable Development Livelihoods Initiatives
(SUSTAIN CAMEROON)
P.O. BOX 1032
Mankon, Bamenda
Cameroon
Telephone: +237 675620662/+237 655163493
Email: sustaincmr@gmail.com
Website: www.sustaincmr.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sustaincmr
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SUSTAINCameroon
Project Title:
Project Title:
An integrated project for empowering at-risk adolescent girls
women and OVCs in the North West Region, Cameroon
Country
Cameroon
Project Duration
2 years (October 2015 - September 2017)
Name of Organization:
Association for Sustainable Development Livelihoods Initiatives
in Cameroon (SUSTAIN Cameroon)
Address
P.O. BOX 1032
Mankon, Bamenda
Cameroon
Telephone: +237 675620662/+237 655163493
Email: sustaincmr@gmail.com
Website: www.sustaincmr.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sustaincmr
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SUSTAINCameroon
Name of Contact Person and
Etali Genesis Akwaji
Title
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Type of Organization:
Non Governmental Organization
Project Location
Expected Begin Date
Momo, Ngoketunjia, and Boyo
October 2015
Total Project Budget
24,020,348 XAF
Divisions of the North West
Region
USD$ 41,000
Expected End Date
Euros 36616.96
September 2017
Estimated Project Beneficiaries (Annually)
Girls & Boys
Men
Women
Total
90
540
Direct Beneficiaries
400
50
Indirect Beneficiaries
1,500
700
1,400
3,600
1. Project Summary
Although the Government of Cameroon has ratified laws to prevent discrimination
against women and girls, entrenched traditional practices and beliefs, such as
early child marriage, continue to persist with significant consequences for young girls
and their families especially in rural communities. Under traditional laws, girls are
encouraged to get married before the age of 15, which they often do. Thereafter, they
face further challenges since marriage often means the end of their schooling and
any hope for professional and skills development ˗ the very assets they need to
break out of the cycle of poverty. Under great pressure to bear children, more than half
of those married end up having children at a very young age. With inadequate access
to healthcare, early childrearing pose significant health risks to adolescent mothers
and their children. Meanwhile, among those married, an estimated 36 per cent are in
polygamous marriages. Young girls in polygamous relationships are more likely to
contract sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. The combination of these factors
and their cumulative impact on educational, legal, health and economic indicators
contribute to high levels of human insecurity among adolescent at-risk young girls,
married adolescent women and those they care for in Cameroon.
PROJECT OVERALL GOAL
The project goal is to increase the self protection of adolescent girls who are at-risk of
an early marriage living in 8 communities prone for child marriages and sexual violence
in the North West Region of Cameroon.
GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS OF THE PROJECT
The project is sub-national and will target 8 communities in 4 out of the 7 administrative
divisions of the North West Region. The specific communities will be Batibo, and
Mbengwi subdivisions in Momo; Belo and Njinikom in Boyo; Ndop central subdivision
(Bamessing, Bamali, Bamunka & Bambalang) in Ngoketunjia divisions respectively.
KEY TARGET FOR THE PROJECT
Direct beneficiaries
The project shall identify, train and equip 75 vulnerable girls as community campaigners
on child marriages and sexual violence. It is hoped that 750 vulnerable girls shall be
supported to manage forced marriages and sexual violence. 50 victims of rape shall be
provided psychosocial support and counseling. Through partnership with traditional
authorities, 50 men (traditional stakeholders) shall be directly sensitized and trained.
N/B: about 1,000 women, men, girls and boys will directly receive support, directly be
engaged, directly benefit and/or directly participate in the project activities.
Indirect beneficiaries
1. Girls Susceptible to Early Marriage: Girls susceptible to early marriage are
the direct beneficiaries of the project and constitute the main target group
for capacity building. They will constitute the active population of the
project.
2. Married Children and Survivors: Married children are victims of the
phenomenon of early and forced child marriage. Their experiences shall
be used for advocacy and training modules.
3. Traditional Authorities: Traditional authorities shall be partners of the
project. They shall be targeted for advocacy for enacting local legislation
against forced early marriages and sexual violence.
4. Community members: Community members shall be reached with
information for education and advocacy. They shall participate in
pressurizing traditional authorities for legislation on child marriage.
30,000 people are likely to be reached indirectly through project activities
PROJECT RESULTS
Overall Objectives
(i)
To engage 75 at risk of early marriage girls as local campaigners against
forced early marriage and sexual abuse in communities in the North
(ii) To sensitize and engage with over 50 men and boys (local community
leaders) to gain their support in mobilizing the social and political will to
enforce laws respecting human rights of girls, including those of
women;
(iii) To provide 50 victims of sexually abuse (rape) with psychosocial support
and counseling
(iv) To give 50 percent of girls identified through the project the opportunity to
stay in school and to access economic resources
(v) To mitigate the negative impacts of early marriage for 750 vulnerable and
married adolescent girls through peer education programme, vocational
trainings and access to healthcare in targeted project communities.
Expected Results
o Trained susceptible victims of early marriage constitute peer mentor
groups in the communities and are mentoring other vulnerable adolescent
girls.
o Emergence of anti-child marriage ‘girls’ clubs’ in the communities and in
schools leading advocacy against child early marriage and sexual
violence.
o Enabling community environments for defending the rights of women and
adolescent girls created
o Small networks of community leaders are established and are offering
training and advocacy skills on issues of forced early marriages.
o Partnerships are established with community radio and television stations
and they are producing programmes and commercials on early marriage,
and sexual violence and their potentially negative consequences.
o At-risk of early marriage adolescent girls have improved chances to
continued education and employment skills training and school retention
and employment prospects are improved.
o Community peer campaigners are establishing collaborations with local
community associations to carryout community mobilization activities to
reach out to a wider audience.
PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
According to UNICEF, 36% of girls in Cameroon are victims of child marriage, with the
rural communities accounting to 23% of the cases of these girls forced marriages in the
country. Child marriage is most prevalent and still reign supreme in rural areas of
Cameroon, where poverty, traditions, ignorance of the law, and illiteracy is reigning at its
peak. These include traditional, religious and cultural practices which continue to treat
women as commodities and inferior beings that have little or no role to play in their
communities and are good only for the kitchen.
Also, the prevailing poverty in rural areas makes the girl the only realistic potential
source of income to parents. They thus arrange marriages for these girls and charge a
bride price that will enable them buy food, and other household commodities. This may
also be to pay back money borrowed by a parent who cannot repay and so gives the
daughter in the place of payment.
Although the government of Cameroon has taken the political will and is still working out
important approaches to ending child early marriage, we believe that it will be more
resourceful to invest in making educational system more accessible, affordable,
conducive, and above all inclusive to effectively fight against forced marriages.
The educational system in rural areas is a great push factor for early marriages in
Cameroon. Gender based violence, poor infrastructure and facilities, gender bias
teaching material; entrenched cultural practices which discourage parents from fully
investing on the education of women, and a non-conducive learning environment are all
motivating factors for girls to drop out of school. Most adolescent young girls in these
rural communities, have marriage as the only option when they drop out of school and
also due to their struggling livelihoods conditions exacerbated by poverty. Thus, in rural
communities school institutions should be made accessible, efficient and friendly to
girls.
The negative effects of early marriage rural communities affect these girls and the
children they give birth to. Thus low weight babies and a high rate of morbidity among
children born by girls in forced marriages is very common. Young married girls are more
often than not victims of Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF). This often arises because of the
very tender age and immaturity of the sexual organs of the girls who are sent off early in
marriage. While, they are also exposed to psychosocial and health effects such as the
hazards of contracting HIV/AIDS and STIs from their older husbands and above all to
unwanted pregnancies, Premature births, and other pregnancy-related complications
which at times take away the lives of these young girls. In fact, many other children are
orphaned by the girls who lost their lives during child birth in these rural communities.
Sustain Cameroon’s project seeks to address problems associated with poverty for
women, girls and orphans and vulnerable children with focus on education, economic
empowerment and health promotion. The intervention also involves the development of
income generating activities with provision of start-up grants, initiation of village savings
and revolving microloans (VSRM) schemes and business management skills training.
These activities will be intersected with awareness campaigns on women’s and
children’s rights, and gender equity; as a means of reinforcing the human capital of, and
to improve on the socio-economic standing of low income families in most disadvantage
communities in the North West Region and Cameroon; particularly those infected and/or
affected by HIV/AIDS. This we hope will contribute to strengthen community systems
thus reducing the trend of school drop outs, HIV/AIDS, child trafficking, early child
marriages, child labour, child sexual abuse and child exploitation and providing the
underprivileged particularly low income households with OVC with a sustainable source
of livelihood.
Our project seeks in the long term to establish a firm foundation that will enable it to end
violence and abuse against women and girls in communities in Cameroon. It also hopes
continue to reach out to similar target beneficiaries and communities in the North West
and subsequently to other regions of Cameroon. The institutionalization of the VSRM
scheme in these communities will constitute the sustainability mechanisms SUSTAIN
Cameroon intends to put up to continue to support its beneficiaries to build firm grounds
for their socio-economic growth and to perpetually avert poverty related problems in
their milieu.
PROJECT STRATEGY
Increased awareness of the relational aspects of gender suggests that a
comprehensive, evidence-based response to child marriage should engage not only
women but also the brothers, fathers, uncles, and future husbands and fathers-in-law of
the girls who have been the focus of programmatic efforts. This engagement is
necessary for challenging harmful gender norms and increasing understanding of the
myriad negative consequences of inequitable relationships. Sustain Cameroon
overarching strategy would be to lean more on men and boys to changing harmful
marriage related norms while also paying attention to addressing boys’ own
vulnerabilities.
Promoting Gender Equality
The project seeks to promote structural and behavioural change in men and boys by
addressing patriarchal systems that perpetuate child marriages sustained by traditional
governance systems. The very aim of the project is to promote gender equality by giving
girls the opportunity to acquire formal education as boys.
The project shall work with the target traditional governance systems to enact local
legislations against child marriage and sexual violence. It shall engage traditional rulers
and traditional title holders as actors in the change process while empowering young
women through education to protect themselves against sexual violence and early
forced marriages.
The project shall produce a manual of existing international and national legislation on
child marriages in Cameron for distribution amongst women and girls.
We shall work with informed victims and survivors of sexual violence and child
marriages who shall be community role models to girls.
Through outreach community activities, the project shall identify susceptible to sexual
violence and early marriages girls for education and economic empowerment
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH PROJECT
i)
ii)
iii)
Management Risk: Limited capacity of community campaigners. Children
susceptible to forced marriage lack formal education; come from economically
disadvantage homes and have low self esteem. This might lead to limited capacity
and lack of ability to speak out. Since they shall be the active population in the
project, it might affect the project output.
Cultural Risk: Intimidation from traditionalist: Traditional authorities can intimidate
girls participating in the project to withdraw.
Security Risk: Cameroon is currently facing serious threats to its national
security by Boko Haram insurgents and attacks. This might arouse fear among
beneficiaries for gatherings and might reduce enthusiasm for people to participate
in the program.
iv)
Security: Cameroon is currently facing serious threats to its national security by
Boko Haram insurgents and attacks. This has tightened security measures
thereby affecting internal movements and organization of activities within the
country.
RISK MITIGATING STRATEGIES
Management Risk: Capacity building shall capitalize on experience sharing. An
animated manual shall be produced and used for capacity building. The campaigners
shall be closely followed by project staffs.
Cultural Risk: Care shall be taken to associate those who support the project as entry
points and people.
Security Risk: We shall sensitize the project target on measures to guard against
suspicious attitudes and also to notify the administration on planned project activities
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES
Sustain Cameroon uses excel to manage its finances. However, routing day to day
project activities are contingent upon cash advances and cash receipts requisitions with
accompanying justifications for expenses incurred by project staff in project
administration and implementation. Financial reports are produced on quarterly, halfyearly and yearly basis to keep close touch with budget estimates and descriptions. A
daily petty-cash register is kept for financial transactions.
MONITORING/EVALUATION
Monitoring shall be an ongoing activity that shall be done on a day-to-day basis and
specified periods of times. In particular, the following monitoring activities shall take
place;
Monthly planning and review meetings; All project staff and Projects Committee shall
meet monthly (organizational practice) to review progress and plan for the coming
month. This shall work to take stock of the positives and address the negatives in the
previous month so as to ensure that the project is going according to plan.
Assessment of Children’s progress reports: At the end of every term, children being
supported in school will submit in their school reports. SUSTAIN Cameroon and
Community volunteers will assist these children identify and improve on their
weaknesses in class. A report about the general performance shall be prepared to be
included in the quarterly and annual reports.
Child supervision and appraisal reports; All beneficiaries shall be supervised on a
weekly basis. During these visits, guidance and counseling shall take place to ensure
that the child appreciates and takes the training with seriousness.
Quarterly progress reports; It is organizational policy that at the end of every quarter
and subsequently at the end of the year, a project progress report is written. This same
standard shall apply to this project, as the Director and Project Officer shall compile the
report. It should be noted that these reports are of both a financial and activity nature.
Children, youth and beneficiaries’ meetings; Quarterly meetings for beneficiaries in
each component shall be organized in the project areas to give them an opportunity to
express their views about the conduct of the project and how they think they can best
benefit from it.
Home, School and site visits: Our staff and volunteers will make both regular and
surprise visits to the schools, homes and site of the beneficiaries. Reports shall be then
made and documented for the findings.
Evaluation
In addition to the final project evaluation, which will be undertaken by an external
consultant, the following evaluation activities shall take place;
Internally, project staff shall present a progress narrative and financial reports to the
Board at the end of every quarter. The agents of the donor shall visit training places and
workshops or any aspects of the project as and when they deem necessary.
The periodic monitoring reports shall be used to inform the end of project evaluation that
shall be undertaken by an external consultant that will be agreed upon by both parties.
Project Budget
Description
Training Expenses
Education and Vocational Training
Microcredit Expenses
Program Expenses
Program staff & consultants
Expense
USD $5,000
USD $14,000
USD $7,000
USD $3,000
USD $12,000
Program Total USD $ 41,000