At First National Forum on Girls’ Rights: UNICEF, partners advocate adoption of national agenda to advance girls’ rights.

Discussions surrounding the vital document, co-constructed by adolescent girls and aligned with National and International agendas, with a view to encouraging policies and programs aimed at prioritizing girls' rights, took centre stage at the First National Forum on Girls Rights.

It held in Yaounde on November 28. It was placed under the patronage of the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Prof Marie Thérèse Abena. 

The event, held at the Multipurpose Sports Complex, was under the theme “My voice matters, my future too”. It brought together over 1,000 girls aged 10 to 24 from across the national territory.

The activity took place in the wake of the International Day of the Girl Child and World Children's Day, commemorated on October 11 and November 20, respectively.

Prior to the Forum, consultations were held with over 5,600 adolescent girls through a nationwide caravan, allowing girls to discuss and draft a Manifesto on Girls’ Rights, which was tabled to the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family alongside other key stakeholders during the Forum.

Organisers said the Forum had as goal to provide girls with a safe and inclusive space to present their ideas, share their talents, and propose promising solutions and practices developed by adolescent girls, to facilitate their dissemination, adaptation, and scaling up to advance girls' rights.

Speaking during the Forum, UNICEF Representative in Cameroon, Nadine Perrault, said girls are not asking for permission to exist but are claiming the place that is rightfully theirs. 

“This Forum proves that when their voices are heard, an entire country moves forward. UNICEF is proud to support this movement led by and for girls,” Perrault said. 

She said the Forum is not an end, but the starting point for a Cameroon where every girl can say “my rights are respected, my voice counts, my future belongs to me”.

The UNICEF official said the Forum is a holistic avenue to promote girls' rights in order to foster their full fulfilment grounded in the pertinent provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

“The idea of such an initiative is obviously not for privilege girls, but rather to spark a realisation that their rights require specific attention, in light of the barriers linked to gender inequalities and sexist discrimination of which they are victims, and act in fields of education, health, and participation,” Perrault said.

She added that the Forum contributes to strengthening the actions carried out by public authorities to ensure the overall well-being of children, with a focus on girls, whose vulnerable situation requires special protection measures.

The UNICEF Representative lauded government’s multifaceted actions and constant commitment to the promotion and protection of children and girls’ rights.

She singled out the Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance, FEICOM; Plan International, and the Canadian government in praises for the “I am a Girl” project which worked for the promotion of girls' rights through education and empowerment by fighting against forced marriages and inequalities, and for keeping girls in school. 

On her part, Minister Marie Thérèse Abena, insisted that girls’ leadership is no longer an aspiration but a reality that must be consolidated.

She said the Forum is a decisive step for girls to firmly embed their rights in public policies and build a more just, equal, and prosperous Cameroon.

The girls at the end of the forum expressed their enthusiasm, revealing that the Forum is a space to say what they want and to build together a Cameroon that respects girls rights.

They also stated that with their dreams and voices considered, they can together create a country where every girl can succeed without limits and not be passive spectators of the future.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3642 of Monday December 01, 2025