Story, Louvier Kindo Tombe
While high-level delegates and corporate engineers gathered in the main plenaries of the 23rd AFWASA Congress in Yaoundé, Blondel Silenou Demanou spent five days running a parallel diplomatic mission in the hallways. As the Secretary General of JVE Cameroun and regional representative for the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW), Demanou took on the immense task of bringing grassroots realities into an elite, professionalized space.
Rather than sitting back as a passive observer, Demanou used the summit as a tactical arena to challenge institutional barriers and build concrete coalitions ahead of a pivotal year for global climate and water policy. As he listened to the opening state speeches detailing the continent’s water crises, he was quick to ground the lofty rhetoric in real-world stakes: “Everything being said here directly concerns the populations we represent. The question is whether these words will find an echo in the decisions taken this week — and whether civil society will have a say in those decisions.”
Lobbying Local Leaders and Forging Global Alliances
Demanou’s most immediate breakthroughs came from targeting local decision-makers who hold the keys to community-level implementation. During a dedicated session for municipal leaders, he directly confronted a delegation of Cameroonian mayors—including the Mayor of Dschang.
Demanou successfully pitched a collaborative framework for the upcoming Cameroon Water Week, securing commitments to include civil society organisations not just as spectators, but as active participants.
He made it clear that civil society wasn’t there just to check an attendance box: “We are not here as observers. We come with a mandate, with positions, and with relationships to activate. ANEW exists precisely so that the voiceless carry weight in spaces like this one.”
Moving from local governance to international strategy, Demanou locked in a high-stakes, one-on-one meeting with Djibrilla, the President of Global Water Partnership Central Africa. With the United Nations Conference on Water approaching, the two leaders mapped out a unified front for African civil society, laying the groundwork for a joint declaration and co-organized side events to amplify grassroots voices on the global stage.
Weaving a Continental Network
Recognizing that a fragmented civil society carries less weight, Demanou aggressively expanded ANEW’s sub-regional coalition through a series of rapid bilateral meetings. He coordinated directly with key water professionals across borders, aligning strategies with delegates from Kenya, Mali, and Senegal, as well as international non-governmental organizations.
Closer to home, Demanou initiated critical discussions with local experts to aggressively revive the dormant national ANEW Cameroun chapter. To ensure these efforts resonated beyond the conference walls, he continuously engaged with mainstream media outlets, successfully positioning ANEW as the authoritative, go-to civil society voice in the congress’s press coverage.
Confronting the Institutional Blind Spots
Demanou’s mission was as much about systemic critique as it was about networking. Throughout the week, he meticulously documented the structural barriers that keep local communities locked out of continental dialogues—specifically noting the total absence of youth organizations and the exorbitant registration fees that act as a financial paywall against frontline activists.
He refused to view these barriers as accidental omission, noting that the exclusion reflects a deeper structural issue within the sector’s leadership. “This is not a question of bad faith. It is an institutional blind spot,” Demanou observed.
“AFWASA is built by and for sector professionals. Civil society is accommodated on the margins. That must change — and ANEW is the network that must drive that change.”
Refusing to let these issues slide as mere institutional oversight, Demanou compiled these structural failures into a formal reform dossier. This brief, delivered directly to the AFWASA bureau, demands concrete structural changes for future congresses, including a guaranteed solidarity fund to sponsor grassroots delegates, a dedicated civil society program track, and mandated representation for youth-led organizations.
Through sheer persistence in the corridors of Yaoundé, Demanou ensured that while the vulnerable may not have been in the room, they could no longer be ignored.
