By Louvier Kindo Tombe
Yaounde, 24th March 2022, Actions for Development and Empowerment (ADE), a young prominent civic-tech association spearheading the advocacy for openness, transparency and accountability in governance officially launched the second phase of the Covid-19 Transparency and Accountability in Africa (CTAP) Project.
The launching was during a coalition meeting that brought together Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the media. The meeting held at the S. T. Muna Foundation in Yaounde.
“ADE will start CTAP II, by conducting research on the post Covid environment, the distribution of health sector resources, the government’s commitment to health sector care and funding,” says Ndi Nancy Saiboh, ADE Founder and Follow The Money Cameroon Lead.
“This second phase will advocate for improved health care funding and address the issues related to vaccine deployment and equitable distribution across Cameroon.” She added.
The Covid 19 Transparency and Accountability Project in it’s second phase will leverage existing partnerships and create new ones with relevant stakeholders. The following major activities will be carried;
– Strengthen the capacities for independent health sectors for better synergistic innitiative,
– Work closely together for better independent monitoring of public policies,
– Multi – stakeholder training in topics related to digital communication.
ADE, representatives of Follow the Money and their associative partners, CSOs and the Media equally made a clarion call to the state of Cameroon calling on the government to define a legal framework for access to information, strengthen access to information instruments, and to define a clear legislative framework for the participation of CSOs and the media in the monitoring of public policies.
Why Focus On Health
The first phase of the Covid 19 Transparency and Accountability Project focused on Follow the Money (FTM) with emphasis on tracking covid 19 funds disbursement and Management, including civic engagement on covid 19 response. At the end of the phase, the results were not good at all.
“Most health facilities in the five regions that we worked did not meet up with basic requirements to manage the pandemic, and 65% of them did not even qualify to operate,” says Mboussi Lionel, Project officer at ADE.
He further disclosed that about 42% of health facilities lacked portable water supply, 31.55% operated with no alternative power supply, 21% had no doctor, 53.63% had no access to vaccines just to name but these.
These and more are what pushed ADE to launch the second phase of the CTAP Project (duration of 18 months) to try to dig deep into the health sector which is vital in the country.
CTAP is a project sponsored by Skoll Foundation and Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in partnership with Connected Development (CODE), Global Integrity, Budget and Follow The Money International, which is currently the largest social mobilization and accountability movement in Africa.
ADE intend to use CTAP II and mobilise at least 1.7 million cameroonians digitally and offline to monitor emergency funds and demand health sector accountability.
Another stategic meeting this time with officials from the Ministry of Public Health in Cameroon has been scheduled for April 2022.
