In December 2024, the Cameroon government suspended four NGOs without any warning or legal basis for three months, which has led to harm to survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).
By suspending the NGOs, the organisations are not able to provide services to support women who are survivors. This abrupt suspension has affected women’s access to support. In the actions of the Cameroon government, the survivors have no choice but to be forced on the streets.
Civil society organisations provide services not provided by the Cameroonian government to address GBV. They provide temporary accommodation, mental health and psychosocial support, legal assistance, and income-generating activities without government support. They also support survivors in navigating the bureaucracy of government referrals and services, including obtaining healthcare and accessing the justice system.
Cameroon adopted a national strategy to combat violence against women in 2011. This national strategy was revised in 2016 and again in 2022 to reduce the number of violent incidents by 2020 and 2026. Unfortunately, in practice, Cameroon has not put in place sufficient resources and services to reduce gender-based violence and address the needs of survivors across the country.
As such, the ambitious goal of the government to end gender-based violence (GBV) has been uprooted by the arbitrary suspension of the civil society organisations that would help support the government’s goal to reduce GBV.
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