Gov’t, partners to harmonise actions in east and far north

Government, through the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, MINEPAT, and some development partners working in insecurity prone areas in Cameroon are working towards harmonising their actions.

The harmonisation of Government, technical and financial partners’ interventions in the East and Far North Regions of Cameroon was the essence of a brainstorming workshop organised by MINEPAT recently.

The workshop, which brought together humanitarian institutions, civil society organisations, private foundations, among others, was aimed at taking stock of the crisis situation in the East and Far North Regions, identifying obstacles and bringing up solutions.

Chairing the opening of the workshop at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel, the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, said the workshop was aimed at defining what each partner should do, so as to complement the actions of all development partners in the insecurity prone areas.

He said many partners are already on the field carrying out different projects to improve on the living conditions of displaced persons, refugees and the affected population in general.

To the Government official, these various interventions and actions need a coherent rational approach so as to blend and avoid overlapping. He said partners need to agree and know who is doing what in which area. This, according to the Minister, will increase access and coverage in the conflict affected zones.

Speaking earlier, the acting Coordinator of the United Nations system in Cameroon, Felicite Tchibindat, commended the Government of Cameroon for her efforts geared at improving the living conditions of the people in these Regions.

She said most projects and humanitarian actions carried out by development partners were implemented successfully in these insecurity prone areas because of the security measures offered by the Government.

She also commended the population of the East and Far North Regions, who, despite their vulnerability and poverty status, are welcoming refugees from Nigeria and Sub-Sahara Africa.

According to Tchibindat, development partners need to review their actions to meet the needs of the affected population.

“As development and humanitarian partners, we need to review what we have accomplished so far and see how we can do better because there are so many partners in the field implementing in many different domains. To meet the huge needs of the affected population, we need to have synergy of the various interventions.”

She said as partners, they need to also put in place a platform where knowledge and experiences could be shared for better follow-up of actions in these areas.