Under the banner of Hope Advocates and the Generation Equality youth Task force,
the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Caryn Dasah has launched activities of Generation Equality campaign in Garoua.
The exercise which started on Monday November 1, 2021 in Garoua with young people at Government Bilingual High school Graoua, with a working session held to introduce participants to the concept of the Generation Equality campaign, the six action coalitions and a compact on women peace and security and humanitarian actions.
This was an interactive session as participants were eager to ask question of the Campaign Organiser regarding the role in in championing the Generation Equality campaign in their school, homes and communities.
The second phase of activities was a food ball tournament between two teams competing on which will be crowned the Generation Equality Champion in Garoua. Team was made up of young girls, boys and their teachers.
Twenty-five years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995 (Beijing Platform for Action) which is visionary agenda for the empowerment of women and girls, everywhere. UN Women developed the Generation Equality campaign, which a visionary campaign to advance the rights of women and girls for an equal future.
Hope Advocates and the Generation Equality youth Task force handing trophy to captain of team red
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Caryn DasahFor the past two years, governments, UN entities, Youths and civil society have been working towards the organising the Generation Equality forum, get commitment maker, design action coalitions which will ensure progress in the human rights of women and girls for the next five years.
At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China known as the largest-ever gathering of gender equality advocates. The Beijing platform for action was adopted by 189 governments committed to taking strategic, bold action in 12 critical areas of concern: poverty, education and training, health, violence, armed conflict, economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment, and the girl child, yet women and girls still face discrimination and with the advent of social media which was not a priority issue during the era of the where the Beijing declaration and platform for action was conceived.
Caryn Dasah pose with teachers
The Beijing platform for action set out how to remove the systemic barriers that hold women back from equal participation in all areas of life, whether in public or in private. Despite some progress, real change has been agonisingly slow for the majority of women and girls in the world. Today, not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality. Multiple obstacles remain unchanged in law and in culture.
UN Women stands at the center of mobilising governments and civil societies to keep the promises of the Beijing platform for action to all of society. In everything it does, it is committed to making gender equality a lived reality for all women and girls who have historically been marginalised and who have waited long enough. This is a vision of a more prosperous, peaceful and fair world that is ultimately better for both women and men alike.
UN Women brought together the next generations of women’s rights activists with the gender equality advocates and visionaries who were instrumental in creating the Beijing platform for action more than two decades ago.
Collectively, these change makers of all ages and genders can tackle the unfinished business of empowering women through a new, groundbreaking, multigenerational campaign: “Generation Equality: Realising women’s rights for an equal future”.
Cross section of Government Bilingual High school Graoua
Imagining a world where all people have equal rights and opportunities. Women and girls are not afraid of walking home late at night, and men and boys are not trapped in oppressive masculinities. In this world, gender equality is the norm. Men and women get paid equally for work of equal value and share the care work at home.
“We are equally Imagining equality in political leadership, classrooms, corporate boardrooms, and factory floors. Women and girls having equal say in decisions that affect their lives, their bodies, their policies, and their environment, from villages to cities.
“To make this a reality, we envisage launching the Generation Equality campaign in all ten regions of the country targeting young girls and boys and decision makers to join in accelerating rights of women and girls in Cameroon.” Caryn Dasah explained.
Activities began in the Northern regions of Cameroon which are regions which have been greatly affected by conflict and it is no doubt that during armed conflict the rate of rights abuses against women and girls is heightened.
During the football match team Red after ninety minutes of play beat team Blue two goals to one. Team Red was crowned as the winner of the Generation Equality champion for Garoua with a cash price. As champions they were provided materials which they will use to champion Generation Equality in their school by forming a Generation Equality school club where members will be champions for the rights of women and girls.
After Garoua, the next destination was MORA a community harboring refugees who have been displaced as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northern part of Cameroon. Here our participants were young girls living in the refugee camp in Mora.
It is worth noting that during armed conflict the level of rights violations against women and girls increases and thus it is necessary to expose these young girls to the Generation Equality campaign, training them on the various action coalitions which are; Gender- based violence, economic justice and rights, bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights(SRHR), Feminist action for climate justice, technology and innovation for Gender equality among others.
As an organisation we reaffirming our commitment in ensuring that every woman or girl in every part of Cameroon live better lives with the full enjoyment and respect of their rights.
Brief history of Hopes Advocates Africa
Founded in 2015 Hope Advocates Africa is a youth led organization registered in Cameroon working on the sexual reproductive and human rights of women and girls, women’s empowerment, peace building.
This organisation has been active in serving the vulnerable population in the North West and southwest region. They have been a champion in championing for the rights of women and girls living in grassroots communities in Cameroon.
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