Leaders of women’s associations are working on the modalities in a workshop in Yaounde.

Leaders of women’s associations from the Centre, West and Littoral Regions will at the end of a two-day workshop that started in Yaounde, June 7, 2012 create a network called “Elections au Féminin”, aimed at boosting the level of women’s participation in elections in Cameroon both as voters and candidates to positions in different elections. Organised by the Non-governmental Organisation “Horizon Femmes”, the workshop has as objective to mobilise more women, as well as encouraging disabled people to actively participate in the country’s electoral process.

The Centre Regional Delegate of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Atangana Lydie-Rose while chairing the opening of the workshop commended the women for the initiative. The representative of the Head of the European Union Delegation to Cameroon, Kerstin Schmid on her part, lauded the initiative and promised that the European Union will continue to work together with the civil society to promote democracy in the country.

The President of “Horizon Femmes,” Denise Ngatchou said the network will enable women join their efforts to fight electoral apathy among women and transform their numerical strengthen into electoral victories. She disclosed, quoting Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) sources that the rate of women‘s participation in the October 9, 2011 presidential increased by 200 per cent, meaning the number of female voters rose from one million to three million.