The Executive Director of Butterfly Cameroon, WHEGO KENMEGNE Larissa, was invited by Plan International Cameroon to participate in a workshop that gathered members of the Cameroon branch of the Youth Network for the Lake Chad Region (YONELCR). This workshop, organized on 26 February 2021, took place in Maroua, chief town of the Far-North Region of Cameroon.
This region is plagued with a humanitarian crisis worsened by insecurity, poverty, drought and epidemics, thus affecting the lives of thousands of people including women, children and youth.
As an independent humanitarian and development organization, Plan International Cameroon promotes the rights of children, gender equality, while recognizing young people’s role in the promotion of peace and social stability.
The Youth Leading Stabilization Efforts in the Lake Chad Basin project, implemented by the organization and funded by the European Union, therefore, falls within this scope.
As part of the implementation of this project, the exchange workshop organized by the international NGO was an opportunity to gather 22 representatives of Cameroonian member associations of the Youth Network for the Lake Chad Region, who came from cities like Tibati, Maroua, Kousseri, Mora, Mokolo, Garoua, Blangoua and Ngaoundéré.
During the workshop, the participants had the following targets:
- to understand the structure and membership conditions of the Network;
- to know the objectives of the Network;
- to establish collaboration opportunities between Plan International Cameroon and the Network.
Established in 2019 in a bid to reinforce the participation of the youth in decision-making processes in the region, the Network is a platform of associations aiming at contributing to information and experience sharing between the youth of the Member States.
The discussions enabled to note the necessity to reinforce existing synergies in order to ensure the achievement of defined goals and to develop new partnerships.
As a member, the Executive Director reiterated the commitment of Butterfly Cameroon to actively participate in the mobilization activities in order to, not only increase the potential of the Network, but also to broaden its activities, particularly in Cameroon, and in the Lake Chad Basin in general.
