Cameroon Government and UN Women hosts Side Event on CSW63

(From left to right) Joseph Ngoro, Un Women Program Specialist; Justine Tamungang, Director at Ministry of Agriculture; Marie Therese Abena, Minister of Women Empowerment and the Family chair of the side event; and Michel Tommo Monthe, Cameroon Ambassador to the UNPhoto credit: Joseph Ngoro/UN Women .

On March 14^th, 2019 the Government of Cameroon with the technical and financial support of UN Women organized a Side Event under the theme "Partnership for the empowerment of women in rural areas: Promoting the empowerment of women living in rural areas in Cameroon through access to sustainable infrastructure " with the objective of showcasing the actions of the government of Cameroon towards achieving SDG 5, by facilitating rural women's access to sustainable infrastructure and Climate Resilient Agricultural techniques.   The side event was organized as part of the sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which held in New York, from 11^th to 22^th March 2019 under the theme: "social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls".

A view of participants during the Side event. Photo credit: Joseph Ngoro/UN Women

During the Side Event, there were several presentations focusing on the role of government, civil society and international organizations such as UN women towards the women and girl’s empowerment. In his presentation, Joseph Bonaparte NGORO, Program Specialist at UN Women Cameroon office highlighted the contributions of UN Women in supporting rural women to move up the agricultural value chain through projects such as the establishment of the “Buy from Women” platform, "Gender mainstreaming in sustainable infrastructure”.

Drawing on the realities of women's everyday lives around the world, CSW contributes to the establishment of development-friendly norms involving women as key actors and assesses the progress made by states in implementing the gender mainstreaming platform Beijing actions and other international instruments for the advancement of women and girls.

The Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, the Ambassador of Cameroon in New-York and some facilitators of the Side Event. Photo credit: Joseph Ngoro/UN Women

The event brought together about 75 people from Cameroonian delegation, members of the Diplomatic Mission of Cameroon to the United Nations in New York, Friendly Diplomatic Missions and Delegations of CSW63, National and international NGO networks, United Nations, Delegation of AU Member States, CEMAC and ECCAS and Technical and financial partners. The major resolutions at the end of the side event was the necessity to monitor the implementation of resolutions from this side event within the framework of national planning, the necessity to organize a Side Event every year and effective national consultation before the annual CSW.