World Refugee Day: ICT University VC, Prof Pondi, moderates confab on Chantal Biya’s humanitarian actions.

The initiative, staged as part of commemorative activities to mark this year’s World Refugee Day, was organised by the Ministry of External Relations, MINEREX, with the support of the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR-Cameroon.

The climax of the event was a panel discussion which bordered on the humanitarian activities of The First Lady, Chantal Biya.

The high level panel discussion was moderated by the country’s foremost intellectual and endowed University don, Prof Jean Emmanuel Pondi. 

Prof Pondi, who is currently the Vice Chancellor of one of Cameroon’s most prestigious universities, the ICT University, moderated the event in the presence of the representative of Chantal Biya.

Five experts took to the rostrum to deliver presentations on various aspects bordering on the wellbeing of refugees in Cameroon. 

The panelists at the event included renowned University don, Prof Joseph Vincent Ntuda Ebode, who is head of the Centre for Research in Political and Strategic Studies of the University of Yaounde II and the UNHCR Country Representative, Olivier Guillaume Beer.

Other speakers at the ceremony included Prof Mathias Eric Owona Nguini and the Vice Rector of the University of Yaounde I amongst others.

Chairing the conference, the Secretary General at the Ministry of External Relations, Chinmoun Oumar, who represented Minister Mbella Mbella, praised the country’s First Lady for constantly reaching out to refugees and other displaced persons through her indiscriminate humanitarian actions. 

He said through her organisations like the Circle of Friends of Cameroon, CERAC, The Chantal Biya Foundation and the African Synergy Against AIDS and Suffering, Cameroon’s First Lady has been changing the stories of refugees currently seeking refuge in parts of the country. 

While saluting the contributions of the various experts at the conference, the MINEREX scribe described Cameroon as a hospitable nation which has always opened its doors to people fleeing conflict and those in distress.

Taking the cue, the UNHCR Country Representative, Olivier Beer, disclosed that Cameroon is currently hosting almost a million refugees. 

“It is the highest number in Central Africa,” he said. The senior UN official expressed delight that: “Cameroon, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, left its borders opened to people fleeing persecution and war”.

“This is because of the leadership of the Head of State and also the humanitarian activities of The First Lady, which are in support of the protection and wellbeing of refugees,” he said. 

He added that: “We have been honoured for this 23^rd edition of the World Refugee Day that The First Lady, Madame Chantal Biya, accepted to be the God Mother of this event”.

“We are calling on the international community to continue to support Cameroon in receiving refugees,” he continued, stating that: “We are here to provide solutions to the growing concerns of refugees, but it is also important to support the states which are receiving refugees”. 

“I will also like to stress that most of the countries receiving the highest number of refugees are on the African continent and Asia. These countries need the international community…it is not easy for a country to host half a million people…it is not easy for the host communities too. If we are working together, we will achieve what we want,” he concluded.