Community Engagement In The Far North Region (FNR) Of Cameroon
Community Engagement In The Far North Region (FNR) Of Cameroon
Supporting CBOs In The Absence Of Effective Government
Since 2009, the conflict in the far northern regions of Cameroon (FNR) coupled with civil war in West Cameroon has led to the amplification of social, economic, and environmental challenges in the country. Home to 4 million people, the FNR is the most populous and simultaneously the poorest region of Cameroon with 74% of the population living below the poverty line. The communities suffer underemployment, food insecurity, gender inequality and a long history of weak government presence.
These challenges have been further exacerbated by the influx of over 300,000 internally displaced people (IDP), a majority of which are women and children, fleeing threats of the Boko Haram (BH) movement and facing an increasing probability of displacement for a second time . These IDP include returning BH fighters who also struggle to reintegrate within the community. Many Cameroonians argue that the integration process is dismissive to both the victims and families of previous BH members that they do not trust have truly left the militia.
In the absence of effective governmental presence in the FNR and the limited spending of the public sector, civil society organizations have been increasing in number and filling in the gaps left unattended by public institutions. About 128 related projects are being carried out mainly in the protection and early recovery sector, but also food security, shelter, health and WASH sectors. While INGOs are involved in the implementation of a majority of these programs, their work cannot achieve sustainable impact if it is not done in partnership with local civil society organizations (CSO). Community based organizations (CBO) play an integral role in the engagement of their communities, particularly vulnerable groups, in defining the challenges as well as the priorities relevant to their struggles and facilitating the development of community-informed strategies to alleviate the resulting tensions.
In order for any INGO or international stakeholder to successfully design social, cultural and economic programs that nurture communal re-integration and belonging in the FNR, they must inform their programs through strategic partnerships based on an exchange of knowledge and learning with local CBOs. In turn, CBOs require support in building the capacities and skills necessary to play their part effectively.
In light of these circumstances, the "Local Needs in Capacity Building" project was set up by the “Programme d'Appui à l'Initiative Communautaire” (PAIC). In 2019, Beyond Group partnered with Creative Associates International to design and deliver a multi-phase capacity development program to build the capacity of CSOs aiming to successfully engage their local communities, increase their impact, and develop their sustainability.
The objectives of this intervention were three-part:
Assess the needs and challenges of local youth groups and CSOs and their readiness to venture into community engagement and advocacy activities, and provide programmatic recommendations for interventions in the Far North of Cameroon.
Equip local CSOs and PAIC Cameroon staff with the necessary technical skills to design and implement successful community engagement initiatives.
Equip a group of CSOs and PAIC Cameroon staff with training and facilitation skills that enables them to train other CSOs on community engagement.
The project was divided into 3 phases beginning with a capacity needs assessment, followed by a training of trainers who would then go on to implement the training of CSOs with the coaching of the project partners.
Discovering the challenges faced by CSOs in Cameroon as well as the available opportunities helps hone in on the capacities most necessary to support a sustainable, active, and effective civil society in the Far North Region (FNR). Through an inclusive and participatory process to data collection the insights gathered remain contextualized and relevant to the Cameroonian community. The findings of the needs assessment informed the design of the training of trainers (ToT) that was conducted as well as the content delivered through the training manual that would continue to be used by trainers after the project’s end. The resulting capacity building interventions addressed both technical and organizational skills and knowledge and focused on:
Community mapping catering to long term goals such as building partnerships and mobilizing local resources as opposed to the more short-term activity approach.
Stakeholder engagement activities that are inclusive of the more vulnerable and less visible groups, that are often overlooked due to their biases as members of local communities.
Community engagement activities that aim to build partnerships and engage the community at higher and more sustainable levels as opposed to the more common community engagement activities that only serve to relay information.
Advocacy initiative design and implementation including community mobilization and fundraising
Participating trainers who were given capacity building sessions to develop their facilitation and training skills were also coached through training sessions that they designed and conducted themselves. These trainers today continue to carry out their work within the CSO community in Cameroon and strive for a more engaged, impactful and sustainable civil society in the FNR.