New Senate Must Consider Girls' Contraception Rights

Bih Afanwi got pregnant against her wish at the age of 16. She almost died because her body was underdeveloped and traumatized to support the growth of a foetus. “I saw the world and walls closing on me even as my strength faded out” she says “I admit I was weak in negotiating condom use with him [the boyfriend] but what if I knew they were other contraception choices – better ones I could use without negotiating with him?”.

Bih is only one among the 141 out of every 1000 girls in Cameroon who got pregnant between the age of 15 and 19.  She was lucky to survive because 1 in every 31 pregnant girls die and maternal death is at its worst since 1990 (490 deaths per 100000 live births). [Countdown 2015 Report Card] 

 Regrettably, there are laws in Cameroon that prohibits family planning education in secondary schools. Same laws prohibit access to modern contraception without parental consent for girls below the age of 18.

The UNESCO International Technical Guidelines on Sexuality Education states that effective sexuality education can provide people with 'age appropriate, culturally relevant and scientifically correct information', and includes 'structured opportunities for young people to explore their attitudes and values, and to practice the skills they need to be able to make informed decisions about their sexual lives.

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) confirms that looking at the evolving capacities of young people rather than their age when striking the balance between protection and autonomy gives opportunity for more young people to learn and make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive lives.

If Bih Afanwi and the 63% of girls and women with unsatisfied family planning needs in Cameron could access modern contraception education in class around their 16^th birthday, the age they voluntarily started having sex, they would have had the capacity to postpone their first pregnancy and in effect reducing maternal deaths. We cannot hope to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015 and even beyond if the most at risk population (girls aged 15-19) cannot chose if and when they should get pregnant.

Now that our legislative system has changed with the recent creation of a senate, young people are also hoping for a change in the legislation on their sexual and reproductive health and rights. It is time for our policy makers to consider girls by their evolving capacities in the legislation on sexual and reproductive rights. Sexually active girls want the rights to study modern contraception in schools and at home. They also want to make informed choices about their contraception methods. Granting them these rights now as compliments to the moral education from our cultures and religions will reduce adolescent birth rate and maternal mortality in Cameroon.

How the 'Non-profit Non-loss' Model works

The ‘Non-profit, Non-loss’ business model introduced by Cameroon Agenda for Sustainable Development (CASD) involves three parties: A development organization such as CASD, a microfinance institution and a marginalized community with profitable business potentials.

 The development organization works with the identified community to design a project that generates income on one hand  (for-profit) and uses the profit to finance non-profit goals (like heath and social deliveries) for the community on the other hand. A micro-finance institution is then contracted to fund the project on the basis that the profit would be shared to refund the micro-finance, finance the charity aspect and sustain the implementing organization. It’s a win-win. The community spends its resources on a business that will return the resources in the form of social deliveries. The micro-finance recovers all its money with time and the implementing organization covers its costs.  The greatest secret of this approach is that, it can never fail since the consumers also have a stake in the profit. They therefore patronize the business without waiting for adverts.

CASD's Numfor Alenwi nominated for Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Development Work

 Numfor Alenwi, Director of Programmes at CASD was shortlisted among the 10 finalist for the Commonwealth Youth Award for Execelelnce in Development Work. The CYPRCA Selection panel which was composed of representatives from the Zambia Ministry of Youth and Sport, the International Award Foundation and the Commonwealth Youth Programme met on 4th and 5th December 2012 and reviewed a total of 78 nomination received from 19 countries.
 
Nominations were reviewed on the basis of quality of impact, level of innovation/fresh approaches to problem solving, quality of achievement, quality of the evidence provided and sustainability in building the capacity of future generation to meet their own needs. The scores were then tallied and the best 10 listed ;

Laureate at Commonwealth Regional Consultation, Tanzania

1. Mr. Evans Muchika Wadongo-Kenya
2. Ms.Agwenjang Patience Ngonwei-Cameroon
3. Ms.Foglabenchi Lily Haritu-Cameroon
4. Mr.Kisirisa Muhammed- Uganda
5. Mr.Ngasa Wise Nzikie-Cameroon
6. Mr.Numfor Alenwi Munteh-Cameroon (founder and E.D of CASD)

7. Mr.Isaiah Owolabi- Nigeria
8. Ms. Ellen Daphine Chilemba-Malawi
9. Mr.Salu Oluwamayowa Adepeju-Nigeria
10. Mr. Derreck Charway-Ghana

The Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Development Work is designed to help celebrate the role of young people as nation builders and partners in development. The Awards offer young people aged between 15 and 29 an opportunity to share their contribution and inspire others to get involved.
Nominees win international recognition and support for their development project. Four awards will be presented regionally, with the top entrant from each region receiving a pan-Commonwealth award. The regional award winners will receive a £1,000 grant, a trophy and a certificate. A Regional Award will be presented to the best of the four awardees in each region. A Pan-Commonwealth Award will be best of the 4 Regional Award Winners.
The Awards are run by the Commonwealth Youth Programme at the Commonwealth Secretariat and are given to outstanding young people working to:
1. promote youth participation in decision-making;
2. promote the economic empowerment of young people;
3. take action for equality between young men and women;
4. promote peaceful and democratic environments in which human rights flourish;
5. provide quality education for all
6. improve access to information and communication technology;
7. promote health, development and values through sports and culture; and
8. Engage young people to protect the environment.

Maternal Health Support Programme

Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5  is the most lacking among the 8 MDGs in Cameroon like the entire sub-Saharan Africa. 

 141/1000 girls aged 15-19 have conceived babies though only 4% of the pregnant adolescents (married or not) desired a pregnancy. (Unicef 2009). 
Generally, unintended pregnancies in Cameroon stand at 22.7% with only 37% of family planning demands satisfied (Countdown 2015). Maternal death is as high as 490/100000 live births. 

Young women in Bamenda advocate for the use of female condom

Most of the teenage mother have prematurely ended their beautiful dreams of becoming lawyers, doctors, teacher, etc and resolved to hand-to-mouth activities just to survive self and baby. In the struggle, some of these teenage mothers get pregnant again. This exposes the mother and child to possible death. 1 in every 34 women dies in child birth nationally. Infant mortality has returned to 136/1000 live births as it were in 1990.

To empower this community of women and girls, access to family planning services and child daycare assistance is needed.

• Our Intervention.

The Maternal Health Programme operates two projects: The Bouncing Babied Daycare Project and the Family Planning for All Project.

The Bouncing Babies Daycare Project provides a child daycare facility where mothers (especially adolescent mothers) can keep their babies and pursue their dreams. Our caring staff provides childcare that promotes healthy infant and early child development. We also give career guidance to the school drop-out adolescent mothers to ensure they are reconnected to their dreams.

The Family planning for all Project offers family planning counseling and referral for subsidized modern contraception in one of our partner clinics in Bamenda.  

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  beneficiaries' kids enjoy life with their nanny at daycare

  
  

  

  A general assembly of beneficiaries held at the CASD office in Bamenda, Dec 2011

Capacity building for Persons living with HIV project

We just completed a project titled 'Capacity Building for People Living with HIV' which contributed to the global response to HIV by empowering 20 people living with HIV with knowledge and skills that can help them lead positive lives and use social media to take action towards Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment care and support.

All 20 participants say the project was timely.

Safe Drinking Water for all Project

 Golden Water

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call for a reduction of the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by half between 1990 and 2015. Yet, an estimated 884 million people in the world, 37% of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa, still use unimproved sources of drinking water¹.

Lack of access to safe drinking water contributes to the staggering burden of diarrhoeal diseases worldwide, particularly affecting the young, the immunocompromised and the poor. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhoea. Diarrhoea kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined². Drinking contaminated water also leads to reduced personal productive time, with widespread economic effects.

Approximately 43% of the global population, especially the lower-income populace in the remote and rural parts of the developing world, is deprived of household safe piped water. Thus, there is a pressing need for effective and affordable options for obtaining safe drinking water.

Golden Water is the most safe and affordable bottled mineral water in Cameroon. 0.5l is sold at 100FCFA, same quantity its competitors sell at 250FCFA. Each time you drink Golden Water, you safe 150FCF. Everyone deserve safe drinking water!

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References

a.  Vestergaard Frandsen: http://www.carbonforwater.com/

b. Clasen, T. et al. 2006. Interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea (Review). The Cochrane

WHO and UNICEF. 2008. Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation

c. UNICEF and WHO. 2009. Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done

d. Wright, J. et al. 2003. Household drinking water in developing countries: a systematic review of microbiological contamination between source and point-of-use. Trop Med Int Health 9: 106 – 117

e. Ghislaine, R and Clasen, T. 2010. Estimating the Scope of Household Water Treatment in Low- and Medium-Income Countries. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 82(2), pp. 289–300

f. Fewtrell, L. et al. 2005. Water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrhea in less developed countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infectious Diseases (5): 42–52

Small Grants Management Challenges

The emergence of young leaders in project management has exposed some pertinent challenges in managing small grants projects. The execution of Our Chances with HIV Project' in Cameroon was a great experience on such challenges. We faced challenges like scope changes, adherence to HIV confidentiality policy and working with partners. Let me share an experience on scope changes.

GYCA announce the award of small grants for my project in January. That was quite timely since the project  was planned for January to June 2010 in consideration of the National Youth Week that runs from February 1^st  -10^th . Somehow, GYCA couldn’t provide the funds until mid February. We were caught between shifting the project timelines to wait for the funds and borrowing funds to respect the timelines. Mindful of the project’s attachment to the National Youth Week, We had to go for a micro-finance loan and partner with an institution that could facilitate the process. The risk with taking a loan to pre-finance a project is paying the interest and/or paying back if the funder changes her mind. This process also brought in a stakeholder that was not in the original plan.

Scope changes in project management have become a common project management challenge in recent years. This happens when there is a need to modify the agreed-upon project scope as defined. Scope changes often require adjustments to cost, time, quality, risk or other project deliverables. ‘These changes must be put back through the planning process, updating plans as needed and notifying stakeholders as deemed appropriate ‘said Sally Stanleigh, BIA associate. Corrective action is needed to bring expected future project performance into line with the project plan.

The term”Scope Change” refers to anything that will now be different to what had originally been agreed-upon in the original Project Scope Statement and subsequently the Project Plan.