Wouri: Horizon Femmes trains widows on acquiring land documents.

The Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, of Wouri, Syrac Marie Mvogo, attended the opening session of the training 

The Coordinator of the ‘One woman, one land certificate project’, Denis Ngatchou, said “for generations, widows have been denied access to land, either because they lack a legal marriage certificate or because the bureaucracy is simply too daunting”.

She insisted that the goal of the capacity building was to reverse the trend and ensure that more widows acquire land documents.

Since 2022, Ngatchou said, Horizon Femmes bas been on a drive to promote gender equality and protecting the land rights of women. 

Beyond facilitating access to land, the Focal Point official said they are also keen on strengthening community support systems for women.

So far, Ngatchou disclosed that 100 legal and community professionals among others have been trained to support women locally. 

The Association, she explained, has reached over 3,000 people with 2,000 of them being women. At least 60 widows, Ngatchou said have thanks to Horizons Femmes, benefitted support to get their land certificates.

Since 2018, Horizon Femmes, she added, has assisted over 300 women legally from the placements of parcels of land to official registration. She added that despite the challenges, “structural and systemic obstacles persist”.

Ngatchou stated that cultural norms often favour men in land inheritance, while the legal processes remain costly and complicated. 

“Those who work and maintain the land are rarely its beneficiaries,” she added. This, she said, adds to the injustices women continue to face.

She appealed to the government and traditional authorities to step up advocacies for adjustments in access to land that favours women especially widows.

Speaking at the seminar, the SDO of Wouri, Marie Sylyac Mvogo, praised the initiative and stressed that Cameroonian law applies equally to both men and women.

He encouraged women to report discrimination and warned against unscrupulous intermediaries who exploit citizens. “In a port city like ours, weakening access to land titles weakens the economy”.

The administrator stated that: “A valid land certificate gives women the tangible asset they need to secure financing for their projects”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3547 of Thursday August 28, 2025