RCESD in Cameroon – for community empowerment
By Denise Nanni and Milena Rampoldi, ProMosaik. In the
following our interview with Francis of the organisation RCESD in Cameroon,
working for community empowerment.
following our interview with Francis of the organisation RCESD in Cameroon,
working for community empowerment.
What are the main issues related to sustainability and
environment in Cameroon?
environment in Cameroon?
The main issues related to sustainability and environment
in Cameroon involve weak institutional structure put in place for policy
implementation, poor monitoring and evaluation strategies for policies
implementation, poor financial and accountability mechanisms for project and
program support, insufficient capacity and expertise to enable effectiveness in
project management, illegal logging, forest encroachment for agriculture,
poaching and insufficient awareness among others issues.
in Cameroon involve weak institutional structure put in place for policy
implementation, poor monitoring and evaluation strategies for policies
implementation, poor financial and accountability mechanisms for project and
program support, insufficient capacity and expertise to enable effectiveness in
project management, illegal logging, forest encroachment for agriculture,
poaching and insufficient awareness among others issues.
What are the events that brought to the foundation
of RCESD?
of RCESD?
RCESD is a registered non-profit organization (Reg. No.
358/G37/D14/VOL II/SAAJP) located at chief street, Bomaka, Buea-Cameroon. It
was founded in October 2008 by 8 graduates determined to contribute to the
local development agenda under the former name “Rural Alliance for Youth
Development- RAYD”. In 2013, there was a need to engulf wider perspectives and
to broaden the scope of the organization to better deal with the dynamic and
complex challenges of sustainable development. This brought in new ideas and
expertise into the management team of the organization. The name was modified
from RAYD to RCESD to meet this new agenda. However, RCESD still lay strong
emphasis on youth capacity building, which was the initial goal of the
organization. RCESD is a membership organization. RCESD is run by a board of
experts and early career scientists who are motivated to lead development
initiatives in their local communities and the world at large. Membership is
open to anyone who shares the views of the organization.
358/G37/D14/VOL II/SAAJP) located at chief street, Bomaka, Buea-Cameroon. It
was founded in October 2008 by 8 graduates determined to contribute to the
local development agenda under the former name “Rural Alliance for Youth
Development- RAYD”. In 2013, there was a need to engulf wider perspectives and
to broaden the scope of the organization to better deal with the dynamic and
complex challenges of sustainable development. This brought in new ideas and
expertise into the management team of the organization. The name was modified
from RAYD to RCESD to meet this new agenda. However, RCESD still lay strong
emphasis on youth capacity building, which was the initial goal of the
organization. RCESD is a membership organization. RCESD is run by a board of
experts and early career scientists who are motivated to lead development
initiatives in their local communities and the world at large. Membership is
open to anyone who shares the views of the organization.
What are the projects that you currently carry on?
Building local capacity for Cross
River gorilla Conservation in Cameroon: This project is aimed at contributing to research output
and expertise needed to sustain conservation policies in the Cross River Water
Heads and Takamanda National Park with focus on poaching policies. The project
will train two graduates through a 6 months fellowship to engage in action
research that informs wildlife policy development and implementation against
poaching. At the end of the project, the
two fellows will be fully equipped to contribute substantially towards the
fight against wildlife poaching in particular and wildlife management in
general.
River gorilla Conservation in Cameroon: This project is aimed at contributing to research output
and expertise needed to sustain conservation policies in the Cross River Water
Heads and Takamanda National Park with focus on poaching policies. The project
will train two graduates through a 6 months fellowship to engage in action
research that informs wildlife policy development and implementation against
poaching. At the end of the project, the
two fellows will be fully equipped to contribute substantially towards the
fight against wildlife poaching in particular and wildlife management in
general.
Promoting Environmental Best
Practices in Cameroon through Music: The aim of this project is to promote music that has the
potentials to promote conscious behaviours and sustainable lifestyles toward the
environment. The project engages youth
between the age of 15 and 35 to engage in contest leading to an award dubbed
“CAMER GREEN Award (CGA)” by developing music content about the environment
that could influence the society behaviour. For more information visit the
project website (www.camergreen.org).
Practices in Cameroon through Music: The aim of this project is to promote music that has the
potentials to promote conscious behaviours and sustainable lifestyles toward the
environment. The project engages youth
between the age of 15 and 35 to engage in contest leading to an award dubbed
“CAMER GREEN Award (CGA)” by developing music content about the environment
that could influence the society behaviour. For more information visit the
project website (www.camergreen.org).
Stop Malnutrition and Infant Mortality in Cameroon: Launched in 2016, the project aim is to empower women on
strategies that could promote nutrition intake. The project will support about
1500 children in Manyu division, Cameroon suffering from malnutrition by
training and supporting 500 women on how to ensure nutritive diets for children
well-being.
strategies that could promote nutrition intake. The project will support about
1500 children in Manyu division, Cameroon suffering from malnutrition by
training and supporting 500 women on how to ensure nutritive diets for children
well-being.
Integrated community model for sustainable development: Integrative and action-oriented development goes beyond
technical fixes to recognition of the social construction of sustainable
development and enable them to play key role in developmental policies.
technical fixes to recognition of the social construction of sustainable
development and enable them to play key role in developmental policies.
Climate smart Agriculture for rural communities in Buea: This project promotes resilience agriculture practices.
This includes the development Nurseries and seed banks to supply and train some
farmers on improved farming techniques have been set up.
This includes the development Nurseries and seed banks to supply and train some
farmers on improved farming techniques have been set up.
What are
according to your experience the most effective ways to ensure community
empowerment?
according to your experience the most effective ways to ensure community
empowerment?
I have
noticed that participatory approaches are the most effective way to ensure
community empowerment. However, the participation process must engage the local
people from the project conceptualisation phase through the planning and
implementation phase. Most participatory models have fail people the focus
mainly or the implementation phase. Secondly, capacity building is also very
effective in empowering the local community provided the capacity building
process takes into consideration and respect local knowledge and ethics. This
makes the local people to have the sense and feelings of ownership.
noticed that participatory approaches are the most effective way to ensure
community empowerment. However, the participation process must engage the local
people from the project conceptualisation phase through the planning and
implementation phase. Most participatory models have fail people the focus
mainly or the implementation phase. Secondly, capacity building is also very
effective in empowering the local community provided the capacity building
process takes into consideration and respect local knowledge and ethics. This
makes the local people to have the sense and feelings of ownership.
In what ways do you get in touch with youngsters that
could benefit from your programs? And how civil society has been responsive so
far?
could benefit from your programs? And how civil society has been responsive so
far?
One of RCESD main focus is to build capacity of early
career professional and this is accomplished through project actions and
professional placements. We offer internship opportunities to both national and
internationals youngsters, who are mainly university students and graduates.
They are opportunities at RCESD to pick up an internship placement for a period
of one to 6 months depending on the need of the individuals. We also have
volunteering opportunities available for youngsters who are willing to have
some field experience or to engage in new project within our organisation
scope. Most of our projects are design to engage youngsters that might not be
privilege to benefit from our professional placement program. We regular run
workshops on career development programs including fundraising, scientific
writing, leadership and research design.
career professional and this is accomplished through project actions and
professional placements. We offer internship opportunities to both national and
internationals youngsters, who are mainly university students and graduates.
They are opportunities at RCESD to pick up an internship placement for a period
of one to 6 months depending on the need of the individuals. We also have
volunteering opportunities available for youngsters who are willing to have
some field experience or to engage in new project within our organisation
scope. Most of our projects are design to engage youngsters that might not be
privilege to benefit from our professional placement program. We regular run
workshops on career development programs including fundraising, scientific
writing, leadership and research design.
Do you
cooperate with local authorities and institutions? If yes, how?
cooperate with local authorities and institutions? If yes, how?
We work
in collaboration in local authorities and institutions. As a registered
non-profit organisation, we are authorised to operate legally nationwide. In
program development, we current work in partnership with the Ministry of
Environment, culture, Women and Development, Youth Empowerment, Forestry,
Agriculture and Scientific Research. We also work in collaboration with all
local authorities in our project area.
in project implementation, we work in synergies with other local
non-governmental organisation.
in collaboration in local authorities and institutions. As a registered
non-profit organisation, we are authorised to operate legally nationwide. In
program development, we current work in partnership with the Ministry of
Environment, culture, Women and Development, Youth Empowerment, Forestry,
Agriculture and Scientific Research. We also work in collaboration with all
local authorities in our project area.
in project implementation, we work in synergies with other local
non-governmental organisation.
Daily updates of our activities can be found by
following our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rcesd/
following our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rcesd/
Our website also cover detail of our project and
program – www.rcesdcam.org (currently
under maintenance but it should go live soon)
program – www.rcesdcam.org (currently
under maintenance but it should go live soon)
