Story, Louvier Kindo Tombe
Hon Cabral Libii took the commitment to raise a debate on green governance at the National Assembly after a fruitful exchange with the different youth-led organizations and young Cameroonians on the issue of green governance at local levels.
“It’s a promise, as the November session opens, I will initiate talks on green governance,” says Hon. Cabfal Libii.
“The youths also promised to continue updating me on the different developments.”
The closing ceremony of the “University of Green Governance” project on October 22 and 23 took the form of a workshop where university dons, policy makers, government officials, youth-led organizations and young Cameroonians gathered to share knowledge on the notion of Green Governance at local Levels.
The participants revisited the project, evaluating the stakes and challenges, achievements and impact in the society.
“The impact is very much positive as the youths showed interest in green governance,” says Herve MAKEBEL, project lead.
“We had envisaged 150 persons to take part in the project, but we were surprised to register more than 730 from 11 countries across the globe,” MAKEBEL added.
The closing ceremony was another occasion to remind policy makers of the need to revisit certain laws and procedures that can lead to a proper implementation of green governance at local levels and call on the youths to embrace the notion.
Prof. William MALA, rector of the University of Governance (UniGoVE) presented a keynote address on “green governance and local development in Cameroon: between necessity and reality”.
At the end of the event, a youth network on green governance was developed.
The project
The project “University of Green Governance” was initiated by civil society organization, Young Volunteers for Environment (YVE) Cameroon, within the framework of the WYDE Civic Engagement financed by the European Union under the coordination of the European Association for Local Development (ALDA), and implemented in partnership with the Yaoundé 1 council in Cameroon.
The objective was to mobilize and reinforced the capacities of youths and youth-led organizations to master mechanisms, processes, and tools of green governance and how to integrate them in development policies at local levels.
Since May 1st 2024 when the initiative was launched at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Yaounde, some key activities have been on the programme such as three online training sessions of young Cameroonians on green governance through 14 modules and one physical session bringing together some 730 youths from over 10 countries across the world respecting gender balance.
An Intergenerational dialogue between youths and policy makers to make their voices heard was also part of the project, and finally networking with international experts.
