At Ebolowa workshop: Journalists, CSOs harness human rights best practices ahead of 2026 elections.

This was in a two-day workshop from December 1-2 in Ebolowa, South Region. It was organised by the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa, UNCHRD-CA and dubbed “Best practices and lessons learned workshop with Media professionals and CSOs”. 

During the workshop, the participants emphasised the need for stronger collaboration, fact-checking, improved information-sharing ahead of the 2026 municipal and legislative elections.

Talking on behalf of UNCHRD-CA, Kevin Fonyuy Franklin, said the Centre, during presidential election and during this period trained hundreds of media professionals and Civil Society Organisations and worked with them to monitor human rights violations during elections.

"It was just normal practice to gather them so that we can share experiences, get the best practices, and the lessons learned from engagement in the 2025 presidential election," he said. 

He added that it also aimed at preparing the engagement during the local parliamentary elections. 

"It's important that we are first on capitalising and capturing best practices, so we are able to use them. That’s the reason we gathered these specific groups of actors here to discuss to look at the best practices, look at the lessons learned and discuss the actions for the future," Kevin said. 

2025 election a turning point

Judith Kiconco, Human Rights Officer at UNCHRD-CA highlighted factors that made the 2025 elections pivotal: a high-expectation transition period, growing youth participation, diaspora engagement, and increased international attention on governance.

Socio-economic pressures, security concerns, calls for electoral reform, and women and youth involvement were also noted as key influences.

The workshop examined debates on the electoral calendar, institutional independence, AU/ECCAS diplomatic roles, and Cameroon’s growing regional significance. Participants discussed how these factors shaped public perception and the electoral process.

Field experiences, challenges, lessons

Cicil society actors and journalists from North West and South West regions reported challenges including lack of a concrete electoral calendar, difficulties obtaining accreditation, insecurity due to separatist lockdowns, and last-minute polling station changes. The use of citizen observers emerged as an innovative solution.

Participants from the West and Littoral regions noted poor political party representation at polling stations, post-election violence, property destruction, mass arrests, and ghost-town operations after the results were announced.

Meanwhile, actors from the Centre, South and East regions highlighted inaccessible polling stations, dominance of CPDM campaign posters, voting irregularities, and the use of live ammunition by security forces.

Across regions, a key concern emerged with limited collaboration between CSOs and the media, which affected reporting accuracy and human rights monitoring.

Best practices, recommendations

Works and group discussions identified two major lessons; that of enhanced stakeholder collaboration for stronger coordination between media, CSOs, ELECAM, and administrative authorities to improve efficiency and accountability, factchecking and effective leasing between media professionals 

Also, the use of citizen observers, structured networks to complement formal accreditation, enabling better monitoring and early warning were mentioned.

Reacting on the importance of the workshop, Raphaela Kianda Ndong, Coordinator of the Justice and Peace Commission, said she has learned how beneficial it would be to work in collaboration with the media.

“Working with the media has opened my eyes to many best practices. From now on, we will do better because fieldwork is always teamwork,” she noted 

Journalist, Esther Qui, on her part, noted improved youth engagement, but highlighted structural obstacles such as inaccessible polling stations and the absence of braille ballots for visually impaired voters.

From the Cameroon Human Rights Commission, Amanye Botiba Philippe, stressed that while the October 12 presidential election was largely successful, post-election violence and human rights violations remain areas for urgent improvement. He said the Commission is willing to give its full support to both actors in ensuring human rights are respected.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3645 of Thursday December 04, 2025