Skip to main content


LUKMEF TELLS COMMUNITY LEADERS TO SPEAK UP GBV AND UPHOLD HUMAN RIGHTS

BY MILDRED NDUM WUNG KUM

Gender Based Violence GBV, is becoming a popular word, however the wave of violence against gender is still a concern especially in communities in Cameroon. Females are mostly the victims of such violence. 

The situation is even higher because the Cameroon Anglophone crisis has exposed a proportion of women and girls fleeing conflicts to experience the hell of GBV. LUKMEF in a ceremony on December 10th 2019 said community leaders must speak up against GBV and human rights should be observed for a harmonious living together. These were part of activities to round off the sixteen days of activism against GBV and to observe the International Day of Human Rights in Bamenda, Cameroon.
The Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Foundation (LUKMEF) is an NGO with a branch in Bamenda, committed to helping victims of the Anglophone crisis by helping the displaced the abandoned, the abused and the violated. 

 “I encourage the community to report any case of violence to LUKMEF, no negotiaton with the perpetrator, see something say something. GBV is a very critical aspect that must be addressed in our communities and most especially, the youths are the most targeted people. The young adolescents are involved in illegal activities that lead to certain activities which expose them to violence so we are hoping that through this GBV sensitization campaign, everything should be arrested” Project Coordinator of LUKMEF Northwest region, Unussa Haruna said while addressing community leaders at the wrap up ceremony.


Project Coordinator Unussa Harunu

                                         
               Youth and Community leaders being sensitized

The painful stories were told at length, a ten year old girl was raped by her father at the Up Station neighbourhood Bamenda..., a man raped an eight year old, seven girls recently reported to LUKMEF that they have been raped, eighteen other women reported that they were battered, many other pregnant girls reported that they have been abandoned, etc
They are victims of physical, psychological, economic and sexual violence. Most cases of violation against females happen because girls and women are not given the chance to be empowered in the social sector.

Participants at the session were told that, to combat the situation, there is need for sensitization and communication about GBV. There is also the need to put males and females on a common ground; give them equal opportunities to education, expression and profession. This would empower the female thereby going a long way to combat violence.
According to officials of LUKMEF, they have been engaged in the fight against violence as well as sensitization about human rights.

The beneficiaries of LUKMEF include 3000 people in Azire, 1000 people in mile five Nkwen, 2500 in Konene and 2800 in Bua Bua. The communities are in and around Bamenda where many young girls and women are displaced within the context of the Anglophone crisis.

They also disclosed that they have a rehabilitation center to empower survivors of violence.
LUKMEF is located at Fon’s street Bamenda, Second Floor of the  Awing Credit Union Building.


Comments

Editor's Picks

THE ROLE CATHOLIC CLERGY AND LAITY PLAYED IN ANNOUNCED NATIONAL DIALOGUE

Priests and Bishops pose for pictures at 67th BAPEC session Cameroon’s president Paul Biya announced a major national dialogue to commence as from the end of this month.  The announcement came in a speech which he addressed to the nation hinged on the throes of the socio political crisis that has gripped the North West and South West region. It is barely a week since the national dialogue was announced and the topic is animating public debates. It is however time to give credit to the clerics and the laity of the Holy Mother Church the for role played in paving the path of dialogue Since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis, the priests, the bishops, the religious and other leaders of the church have often echoed and re-echoed that only profound and meaningful dialogue can bring solution to the problems plaguing the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. In fact memories of 29-Dec-2016 are still fresh, the date when bishops of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conf...
WOMEN PEACEBUILDERS VOW TO INTENSIFY MEDIATION  By Mildred Ndum Wung Kum About twenty women ha ve taken a commitment to intensify peacebuilding and mediation. They are inspired by a seminar which empowered them with knowledge on peacebuilding, mediation, conflict analysis and effective communication in times of conflict. The seminar was organised by Mother of Hope Cameroon-MOHCAM with funding from Women Mediators across the Common Wealth.  The over twenty women who attended the seminar are civil soceity leaders under the banner Women Peace Builders Network - WOPEN. The women are worried by the Cameroon Anglophone crisis affecting the Northwest and Southwest Regions of the country where parties on the opposing side are yet to settle on peace talks. This has led to rampant increase in human killing, kidnap, rape, shut schools, extortion, ghost towns, lock downs and a generally epileptic economy and "women have borne the brunt of the crisis" says Madam Gladyse Foncham, Secre...
MANKON INHABITANTS OBSERVE RITUALS  UPON FON'S DISAPPEARANCE Men with spears accompanying messanger The traditional authority of Mankon known as the Kwifo has made public the disappearance of HRH Angwafo III Solomon Anyeghamotu. Messanger of Kwifo talking to pressmen The announcement was done in keeping with the customs and traditions of Mankon May 29,  2022 . Several men carrying spears among them a man known to be a messanger of Kwifo appeared before the village crowd at the plaza of the Mankon palace. The messanger made utterances in maternal language which was followed by a translation in the English language to the press. "They will start mourning the Fon from today till the 7th of June. There will be no farmwork. Men would move without caps on their head to show that they are mourning their Fon. On the 7th of June they will come back and get another details. The various quarter heads will further announce this" Anye Joseph messanger of Kwifo told the press as he tra...