Category Archives: Women’s Rights

Girl Child, He 4 She, Health, Her Voice Club, MenEngage, Partnerships, Women's Rights, Youth in the Picture

Denis Miki Foundation Officially Becomes A Member of the MenEngage Cameroon Chapter

Posted on by denismikifoundation
28
May

Having signed up as a global member of MenEngage in the last few months, it was considered much needed to accept the call to belong to the local chapter of the MenEngage Alliance. Denis Miki Foundation has as 2 representatives for the MenEngage Alliance Cameroon Chapter one member from the Her Voice Club to be represented by Nfomi Laura Berka who will accompany a staff at DMF for meetings.

The aim of the MenEngage Alliance is to raise awareness of the influence men have in ending gender-based violence and speaking out against all kinds of inequality. This meeting was held on the 25th of May 2019 in Buea and was represented by one member of several organization all over Cameroon some of which includes; Big Step Outreach Network, Mother of Hope, Community Center for Intergraded Development, Hope family Life, Vision in Action, Reach Out Cameroon, MINPROFF and others.

The program started at 8:45am with the arrival, registration and introduction of member organizations. Also talks on why engage men in gender equality and several reasons where given like they form an integral part of the society and can also contribute to end violence. The Criteria was shared as to how one could join the movement like signing their memorandum of association by implication accepting their terms and conditions. Some organizations where voted such as:

  1. MenEngage Cameroon Coordinator; Community Center For Intergraded Development
  2. Child Rights Constituency; Hope Family Life
  3. Women’s rights Constituency; Mother of Hope Cameroon
  4. Youth Constituency; Sustainable Women Organization.
  5. Key population Constituency; Vision in Action
  6. HIV/AIDS Constituency; Big-Step Outreach Network.

DMF signed the Memorandum of Understanding and officially became a member of the MenEngage Alliance Cameroon Chapter.

Capacity Building, Children's Rights, Girl Child, He 4 She, Health, Her Voice Club, Leadership, MenEngage, Orphans & Vulnerable Children, Partnerships, Volunteerism, Women's Rights, Youth in the Picture

Her Voice Club Formed Following Focus Group Discussions with Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) on their Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR)

Posted on by denismikifoundation
23
Jan

Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) are faced with challenges particularly while engaging in relevant policy and program design processes that directly affect their lives. An example of this is absence and lack of meaningful engagement of adolescent girls and young women in national AGYW and youth related policy and program processes supported by or linked to the Global Fund. Gender inequalities limit the ability of young women to protect themselves from infection.

In 37 countries only 30% of young women had the knowledge to prevent HIV. Young women with HIV also face stigma and discrimination. To respond adequately to the needs of adolescent girls and young women, their voices and ideas must be heard. They must have the opportunity to shape policies and programs that affect them. This report presented is based on information gathered following consultative sessions through Focus Group Discussions with 48 AGYW in Cameroon to ensure their opinions and voices are captured to shape the decision making, implementation processes in the HIV/AIDS respond plans in Cameroon through the Global Fund.

        This report presents field consultation and analysis from this target group that represents their voices and opinions on a wide range of methods through which services like education can be provided to them. It provides a platform where we can ensure that they are able to seek and claim their rights to sexual health and HIV services. It highlights methods to contribute to the fight to end gender-based violence, a cause and consequence of HIV infections and proposes ways to create safe spaces for young women to become advocates and leaders in the HIV response and change harmful social norms to empower them.

The sessions that began with girls from 13 to 18 saw a lot of them having a lack of knowledge on HIV/AIDS. This was noticed because some of their answers to questions asked were incorrect and they were lacking on important knowledge about HIV/AIDS for example when it was coming to the difference between HIV and AIDS. A lot of them who were shy to speak at the beginning were able to start talking after a few minutes and we could watch their confidence grow and immediately after the session and our departure from the school a lot of them went on the internet to read more about HIV/AIDS and started following us on Facebook. The girls who participated at the Apostolic Comprehensive Secondary School have now began a club called Her Voice Club.

The AGYW who participated in the sessions out of the school campus had their sessions in outdoor environments, a choice made to create a space where they were comfortable and felt safe. The discussions created new friendships, exchange of life experiences and situations, knowledges and methods to engage them fully in the Global Fund processes. To be able to continue building on their capacities for their fully engagement in the Global Fund processes they proposed that a Whatsapp group should be created which was done of them and the Expert Trainers and the project team at DMF. A secret Facebook group was also to be created so that participants without Android Phones could be members. The team at DMF regularly shares workshop and consultative meeting opportunities at both the local, national and international levels, coach them in the application process so they can begin the engagement processes. Some are working closely with the team to build the article for the International Journal of Public Health so that they can be introduced to the processes and their capacities built.

Capacity Building, Girl Child, Governance, He 4 She, Health, Her Voice Club, Human Rights, MenEngage, Partnerships, Women's Rights, Youth in the Picture

Call For Expert Trainers

Posted on by denismikifoundation
27
Dec

PROJECT THEME: “Engaging the Voices, Opinions and Perspectives of AGYW groups in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment Processes through Focus Group Discussions”

GOAL

The goal of this project is to provide a space for the meaningful consultation of Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) in Global Fund Cameroon processes as well as in Divisional, Regional and National processes to reduce new HIV infections among AGYW aged 15-24 to meet Global Fund targets.

OBJECTIVES

  1. To get the voices, perspectives and opinions of AGYW before designing and implementing HIV prevention polices/processes,
  2. To actively engage AGYW in HIV prevention efforts to improve acceptance and sustainable ownership of interventions, increase retention of AGYW in treatment programs and maximize impact
  3. To incorporate solutions proposed by AGYW into HIV prevention/treatment initiatives because AGYW are experts at understanding their own issues and designing solutions.

 

METHODOLOGY

-Together with the team at DMF, Expert Trainers will establish necessary criteria to carry out the study.

-Study procedure, will be explained to each participant by the experts prior to administering consent.

-Together with the team at DMF, the Experts will develop an interview framework that will enable the focus groups to examine risk factors for AGYW as well as strategies proposed by AGYW to address HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

-The team of experts will determine the language of study, how the study will be conducted and the coding and consolidation system to make the study effective and the results reliable.

There will be 6 focus group discussions, 3 composed of AGYW aged 15-19 and another 3 composed of AGYW aged 20-24. Each group will comprise 8 participants making a total of 48. All sessions will be recorded and shall take place in Limbe between the 3rd to the 13th of January, 2019.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Expert Trainers in the fields of Health, Community Outreach and Service with proven track records on HIV/AIDS related programs most especially with previous and/or ongoing collaboration with Global Fund programs in Cameroon will be given more priority.

To apply send a One Page Abstract on the project theme attaching your most recent Curriculum Vitae (CV) to Denis Miki Foundation at contact@denismikifoundation.cm copying; Miss Emilia Miki emily@denismikifoundation.cm, Mr Emmanuel Vifansi emmanuel@denismikifoundation.cm, Miss Ndolo Ekema ndolo@denismikifoundation.cm and Mr Parviel Chirsir parviel@denismikifoundation.cm

Deadline: The deadline for submission of abstracts and CVs is the 30th of December 2018 at 11.59PM.

ABOUT DENIS MIKI FOUNDATION

Denis Miki Foundation is a development initiative that since December 2013 has worked with rural and urban-poor communities in Cameroon. Our programs at Denis Miki Foundation focus on primary health care, water, hygiene & sanitation targeting primary school children, youth, women and the underprivileged persons, conservation related activities, community development projects, vocational training and promoting sustainable agriculture, arts and talents promotion activities. DMF’s missions are to contribute to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and community development by empowering the people and their communities. We have as objectives to sustainably develop and enhance the capacities of the poor, vulnerable and rural areas of Cameroon.

 

ABOUT HER VOICE FUND

HER Voice is the result of various consultations with women organizations and women’s funds citing challenges faced, particularly by young women, while engaging in relevant policy and program design processes that directly affect their lives.

Through its “Community Rights and Gender Strategic Initiative”, the Global Fund has invested in HER Voice to support the meaningful engagement of adolescent girls and young women in national AGYW and youth related policy and program processes supported by or linked to the Global Fund, for an initial period of 12 months.

HER Voice believes that to respond adequately to the needs of adolescent girls and young women, their voices and ideas must be heard. They must have the opportunity to shape policies and programs that affect them. HER Voice collaborates with and compliment other initiatives geared towards strengthening quality of interventions targeting adolescent girls and young women.

The HER Voice Fund is jointly managed and administered by SHRH Africa Trust (SAT) and Eastern Africa National Networks of AIDS Service Organizations (EANNASO).

Charity, Women's Rights

Share The Love; Sponsor A Widow’s Health Insurance Project

Posted on by denismikifoundation
10
Jul

To commemorate the International Widow’s Day which is celebrated globally on the 23rd of June each year, Denis Miki Foundation launched the “Share The Love; Sponsor A Widow’s Health Insurance” Project. There are an estimated 500,000 widows in Cameroon, out of a population of about 20.550.000, accommodating some 250 different ethnic groups. Widows are the most vulnerable and neglected group in our community. In our community, the widows are among the poorest and most marginalized group in the community. There exists a multiplier effect where they cannot afford quality education for their children. Consequently, some of these children drop out of school, have unwanted pregnancies while some resort to joining bad gangs and become arm robbers. Therefore, an effort to economically empower widows is a timely intervention to take them out of poverty and equally preserve the future of their children. Widows and their children, particularly their daughters, who so often suffer the most discrimination and violence, direct and indirect, from state and non-state actors, and this discrimination, resulting in extreme poverty, marginalisation, and exposure to violence, requires visibility so that it can be addressed by governments.

A project to financially and economically empower them is primordial for their well-being. This economic empowerment will facilitate the widows to send their children to school, also be able to sustain the family given that they are now the main bread winner in the absence of their husbands. The project has as goal to economically empower 50 widows in the coastal area in Limbe Cameroon. The key objective is to assist in poverty reduction and to improve the livelihood of the widows who are mostly poorly catered for and live in financial hardship. Our activities will involve community mobilization to identify the widows, sensitize them and register them for Health Insurance in the BEPHA program.

We are focused on empowering women and young girls. We are motivated by the hardship, neglect and male dominance experienced by the women in our community, we are therefore engaged in assisting these women and young girls to train them to become financially independent and economically empowered. We are moved with compassion for the widows who have nobody to defend and fend for them. They usually have their late husband’s property unjustly taken away from them. Thus, such a project will be a source of comfort and hope to them.

We, with several of our partners calls on and invites widows to register and benefit from the project; “Share the Love; Sponsor a Widow’s Health Insurance” at their office situated besides the Chinese Shop Newton, Limbe. The project aims at achieving health insurance support for widows who cannot afford their health care because of poverty and high dependency from children left behind after the death of their partners. In a bit to reduce the poverty suffering levels of widows and develop programs to address their health challenges and encourage actions in achieving full rights for widows and ameliorate their conditions.

Register today at Denis Miki Foundation with the photocopy of your national identity card or birth certificate and one passport size photograph or call the numbers 677985413 or 677422454.

Capacity Building, Girl Child, Health, Her Voice Club, Leadership, Partnerships, Women's Rights, Youth in the Picture

Young Commited Peer Educators Set Out To Fight HIV/AIDS In Communities Around Cameroon

Posted on by denismikifoundation
01
Apr

At the age of 24 I started on a journey to give back to my community through a holistic empowerment program that I named Denis Miki Foundation. It was a self-bound vision but which could not be implemented alone for the impact I had envisioned for the future. To be able to attain my set out goals I needed to get others in the community involved and one of the target groups I needed in my team to work where youth. So as a Social Entrepreneur I set out to recruit young volunteers to join me in my vision for change.

One of the areas I felt needed intervention was the Health Sector but my entry level was more of a preventive and community health approach. So Denis Miki Foundation recruited volunteers who were trained and prepared for service to the community through partnerships with local and international partners. At the beginning of the journey 5 volunteers were recruited but 4 years later we are counting 30 and above committed volunteers who are from the ages of 12 to 35 and who are proposing solutions to challenges in our communities.

In the area of health DMF as a Sub-Contractor for a Global Fund project in partnership with Reach Out Cameroon and IFPP on HIV/AIDS we have 20 young girls aged between 16-35 on the field as HIV/AIDS Peer Educators educating their peers who are school-drop-outs on preventive measures of HIV/AIDS, how to live responsible lives, to go for free HIV/AIDS screening at partner health centers, and mobile HIV/AIDS screening outreach programs at local community markets.

Ijang Valerine an 18 years old is one of the Young Female Peer Educators who has for the last 7 months given back to her community by educating young girls and boys of her age group on the ills of HIV/AIDS and how it affects economic growth and hinders orphaned children growing up after losing a parent to AIDS from growing up in a family with parental care and support. Valerine teaches her peers why it is important to know how to prevent being infected by the virus, screen for HIV/AIDS regularly and how to manage the disease if already infected with the virus and how to prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission. She has been able to also recruit new young girls to join her as volunteer Peer Educators in the fight against HIV/AIDS in our communities.

Like Valerine, the other young girls are finding their purpose as they give back to their communities. It is part of Denis Miki Foundation’s goal to get Youths In The Picture for development through Health, Sports, Arts and Talent for a healthy and economically empowered Cameroon and Africa as a whole. To be able to do this we are open to new partnerships and funding opportunities. And welcome partners from all over as we join hands to create the change we want

Capacity Building, Her Voice Club, Human Rights, Leadership, Women's Rights, Youth in the Picture

DMF Celebrates International Women’s Day Through A Sensitization Campaign at the Field

Posted on by denismikifoundation
08
Mar

The theme for the 2017 International Women’s Day celebration is “Be Bold for Change”. For International Women’s Day 2017 and beyond, individuals and organisations were encouraged to #BeBoldforChange by taking ground breaking action that truly drives the greatest change for women. Many influencers around the world committed to bold action to accelerate gender parity, acknowledging their responsibility to do what they can to forge a more gender inclusive world.

At DMF we got youths involved in the development process because it is getting them interested and participative in the 5050 agenda… #IWD celebrations was commemorated by a sensitisation campaign at the field as women in the town of Limbe gathered to show their solidarity and role in building the world they want.

Capacity Building, Girl Child, Health, Her Voice Club, Human Rights, Leadership, Partnerships, Volunteerism, Women's Rights, Youth in the Picture

Young Female HIV Peer Educators/Volunteers Trained

Posted on by denismikifoundation
10
Oct


Denis Miki Foundation is aware of her legal and moral obligation to protect the rights of all, the responsibility of individuals to act and the benefits of diversity to society and is conscious that HIV/AIDS is a human rights issue too. With the need to partner for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal had Young Female HIV/AIDS Peer Educators be trained in the Peer Educators training by Presse Jeune Developpement and Center for Media and Strategic Communication in partnership with Reach Out Cameroon.

In all our activities health education talks and campaigns are not left out and this is to economically empower the people and communities for healthy lifestyles. It is vital for Denis Miki Foundation to include Health education talks, sensitizations and campaigns in her projects and activities. This is in the areas of HIV/AIDS, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Water and Sanitation. It is one of our goals to implement larger projects on health in the poor rural and urban communities we work with since most of them are faced with health challenges of HIV/AIDS, Malnutrition and many others. The HIV/AIDS trainings are facilitated by the trained Peer Educators who were trained by Presse Jeune Developpement and Center for Media and Strategic Communication in partnership with Reach Out Cameroon.

The Peer Educators will be going into the field to train their peers on HIV/AIDS prevention, how to use the female condom, prevention and available HIV/AIDS management methods.

[TWTR]