Perception of the International Women’s Day Celebration in Cameroon: The Case of Biyem-Assi neighborhood, Yaoundé

Abstract

The International Women's Day Celebration started as a socialist political movement, which fought for women's right to vote and better working conditions. Over the years this movement has fought for education, health, poverty, political integration, violence, armed conflict and the aspirations of the girl child. In Cameroon presently, the perception of women about the International Women's Day Celebrations is not fully appraised. A survey was carried out for a week in Biyem-Assi neighborhood after the International Women's Day Celebration (IWDC). The aim of this study was to generate knowledge on a gendered perception of the International Women's day celebration and the practices attached to it. The survey revealed that 50% of women were perceived to celebrate this day for no reason, as most of them did not know the theme for the day. Also, 88.9% of women indulged in a lot of alcohol with most drunk and other malpractices. The findings speculate that the IWDC is about to lose its political flavour if no action is taken. Women and men both accepted that there was a need for women to be educated more on the importance and relevance of the International Women's day and its celebrations.

Ambiguity in NGOs Poverty Reduction Programmes

“…On the other hand Bebbington et al (2007), and Namara (2009) show that NGOs' participation in poverty reduction has a positive impact on the poor as they provide short-term support to the needy. NGOs in Cameroon do not handle issues different from the above given the increased involvement of NGOs in the development process [2] . What worries Cameroonians most is the fact that a high number of developmental NGOs with the slogan 'poverty reduction is our target'' are created in the same areas.…”

“…To achieve the aim of the study, the following sub-objectives were projected (1) Exploring how NGO staff and their beneficiaries perceive poverty. (2) Examining the causes of poverty in the study regions. (3) Exploring how NGOs programmes are reducing poverty.…”