Cameroon

New multi-stake holder collaborations to start in Cameroon

2022-03-11T13:45:15+00:00January 9th, 2019|

There were almost 25 participants at the three day workshop organized by Well Grounded in Yaoundé: associations of small- and medium-sized businesses, civil society organisations and community forest groups met and exchanged about their experiences of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). In 2010, Cameroon signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the European Union to develop legal wood trade and improve forest governance. Large exporting companies quickly benefited from the opportunities offered by the VPA. Civil society has played an important role in the negotiation and implementation of this agreement, advocating for the common good, particularly that of indigenous and neighbouring communities. [...]

Complaint abandoned, but systematic human rights violations continue for indigenous Baka communities in Cameroon

2022-03-11T13:45:10+00:00March 15th, 2018|

In September 2017, Survival International announced that it had withdrawn from OECD mediation with WWF, following its 2016 complaint lodged against them in relation to (inter alia) mistreatment of the Baka in Cameroon connected with its conservation activities. While Survival International's formal complaint might be at an end, the serious abuses of indigenous peoples’ human rights associated with conservation activities in Cameroon (and elsewhere) are persistent, real and ongoing, and reflect fundamental problems with the approach of many large conservation actors. At an international level, there has been a longstanding engagement by leading conservationists in support of human rights (often provoked [...]

OKANI’s action in Gbabandi and the development of indigenous peoples

2022-03-11T13:45:09+00:00November 13th, 2017|

OKANI’s vision is «a cohesive society where the rights, justice and fulfillment of indigenous peoples from the forests of Cameroon are guaranteed.» Its mission is to «support Indigenous peoples from the Cameroonian forests, and to improve their living conditions through the promotion of respect for their rights Since its creation 11 years ago, Okani has implemented several activities through different projects with the support of different technical and financial partners in order to improve the living conditions of indigenous peoples living in the Cameroonian forests. Projects were implemented in the following fields: Education Promotion of education in the Baka language through [...]

Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Cameroon : Challenges and issues

2022-03-11T13:45:09+00:00October 31st, 2017|

This article is the first of two pieces about indigenous peoples in Cameroon, written by a staff member of Okani, one of our client organisations. In Cameroon, when speaking about forest indigenous peoples, we refer to four different groups: Baka people live mostly in the Eastern and Southern regions of Cameroon. Bakola and Bagyeli people live in an area of about 12 000 square km in the South of the country, including the districts of Akom II, Bipindi, Kribi and Lolodorf. Lastly, the Bedzang people live in the Central regions, in the North-West of Mbam in the area of Ngambè Tikar. [...]

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