Bright Light Projects Launches Young Men Entrepreneurship Program in Cameroon – August 29, 2023

“We can’t keep building and empowering young girls for them to go back home and be abused by the young boys we have neglected”, is the famous slogan from BP Executive Director Franco Bonghan.  Once asked if Bright Light Projects (BLP) is a feminist organization, the response was NO, BLP strives for gender parity.

On Tuesday, August 29, 2023, BLP Cameroon will be launching a new program titled “Young Men Entrepreneurship” (YME) at its headquarters office in the city of Bamenda in the northwest region of Cameroon.

The focus of the YME program is on Skills development, entrepreneurship, and mentorship for Young men ages 18 – 25. Second chance education, reintegration of young men into society torn apart by varying difficulties. If the goal of Gender mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality, then it requires gender-specific actions whenever men or women are in a disadvantaged position. AT BLP, we strive for gender parity. Engaging young boys and men in the gender equality campaign require that we engage boys and young men positively empowering them with the necessary skills and tools to better understand and articulate issues of gender for women and girls.

The Anglophone crisis has brought untold stories of hardship to the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon deepening the already fragile economic situation. In a country where youth unemployment is high, there is a need to engage young men and women with skills that would transform and empower them to be change agents and role models in their communities.

The BLP team in Bamenda had gone through a rigorous vulnerability assessment in different communities to interview, select, and prepare beneficiaries for the YME program. The BLP team had also signed a special memorandum of Understanding with different trainer centers where the beneficiaries will be undertaking training for the next 12 months in line with BLP’s vision to promote and support our beneficiaries to become self-reliant and contribute positively to the development of their communities.

Engaging boys and young men is a proactive approach to safeguarding gains made toward gender equality because they become key stakeholders in promoting, understanding, and advocating for gender equality. They become ambassadors of empowerment of girls and young women. This is important and will provide for the necessary cultural shift of male dominance dismantling customary and institutional laws that have promoted gender inequality for so long.

The entire BLP team is excited about this new opportunity and we look forward to partnering with other key partners and CSOs to expand the YME vision to other BLP operational communities and countries.

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