Bharat Joshi called on government to promote women’s rights if they must achieve Vision 2035 goals.
The British High Commissioner to Cameroon Bharat Joshi has called on the government of Cameroon to ensure that more women are included in all aspects of government life as well as in decision-making positions. He made the call during the 30th anniversary of the Cameroon Chevening Association – CAMCHEV - in Bamenda recently.
Bharat Joshi said the Chevening is one of the biggest scholarship schemes in the United Kingdom, UK that has trained a good number of Cameroonians. He said the Chevening programme trains Cameroonians who return to Cameroon and contribute to the development of the Country. He added that there are other scholarship programmes for women and that their intention is to double the number of women who go in for scholarships in the UK. Bharat Joshi was optimistic that Cameroon will develop even faster if more women are included in the development process.
The 30th anniversary of CAMCHEV which was placed under the theme “Promoting Women’s Rights” gave a rare opportunity for the President of the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms, Dr Chemuta Divine Banda, to give the evolution of Human Rights in Cameroon. In his presentation he said much is still to be done to bring women to the limelight. Owing that women constitute a larger number of the population in Cameroon, he went on; they are still being relegated to the background.
As per statistics, he said out of the 58 Senior Divisional Officers (SDOs), only one is a woman. He regretted that much is being said about including women but very little is been done. He said despite the fact that women have to also stand up and take the challenge, the government needs to create avenues for them.
The president of CAMCHEV, Ephraim Banda Ghogomou, thanked the British Government for giving them the opportunity to study abroad so as to develop Cameroon. He said one of their missions is to promote women’s rights as a means of fostering development in Cameroon.
