Bright Light Projects Cameroon (BLPC) began mapping for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Buea municipality in the South West Region of Cameroon since April of 2021 in collaboration with the regional delegation of the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family in Buea Southwest region of Cameroon.
The ongoing Anglophone crisis for about four years has brought lots of hardship and with an influx from remote villages to major cities of Buea, Bafoussam, Bamenda, Douala, and Yaounde about 800,000 Internally Displaced Persons especially women and children. The Cameroon Government and the social service sector has a huge responsibility in helping these IDPs and Government cannot do it alone. BLPC is simply complementing government efforts in key areas especially when it comes to Gender Based Violence, livelihood empowerment for rural women. reproductive health issues, etc
Fako Division, specifically Buea municipality and surrounding villages and communities have been the focus for our field work conducting vulnerability assessments in the villages of Likombe, Bova 1, Bova 2, Bwassa, Likoko, Great Soppo Buea. Vulnerability assessments are conducted based on BLP’s key performance indicators in line with BLP’s Girls Shall Rise (GSR) Campaign which has witnessed great success in Sierra Leone. Assessments were conducted with full consent and sometimes collaboration with the regional delegation of Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family in Buea Southwest region of Cameroon, with community stakeholders, local chiefs, caregivers and community Counselors. So far about 300 assessments have been conducted in these villages between the mon ths of April – July, 2021 . The most vulnerable girls will be selected as beneficiaries to be pioneers of BLP’s Girls Shall Rise Program in Cameroon.
Girls Shall Rise is a flagship program by Bright Light Projects with focus on providing educational support, skills training and advocacy for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) specifically violence against women and children, Commercial Sex workers, and other vulnerable girls and women.
In Cameroon, GSR campaign will focus more on IDPs, Victims of Gender Based Violence, Domestic Servitude, teenage dropouts, early pregnancy and other inequalities. In some villages, young girls are already forming a task force to help fight rape and domestic servitude. BLPC will organize workshops in these communities to train them on proper identification, response and sensitization. Young Girls will be trained as BLPC Ambassadors in some of these villages
