Cameroon is working to pool efforts to combat rising gender-based violence, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa has said.
“We have to work together,” the minister told an event in the capital, Yaounde, on Tuesday to initiate mapping of gender-based violence service providers in the central African nation.
“When we put out this cartography, it will be a better representation of… the activities carried out by the government, civil society, traditional and religious authorities,” Ondoa told reporters. “We need to have a clear representation of the existence of gender-based violence and then how to handle it.”
The initiative, supported by the World Bank, will facilitate follow-up of survivors, said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank country director for Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
“The idea was how we can help make sure that those who survive such awful acts can get support,” he said. “When you survive, it is about mental health, physical health; it’s about making sure you get legal support.”
“The mapping will provide all these service providers who the survivors can tend to,” Seck said. Enditem
