Response to climate change, humanitarian woes: UNICEF, TIKA unite to strengthen youth, community resilience.

The deal was sealed Tuesday January 20 in Yaounde through a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU. 

UNICEF Representative in Cameroon, Nadine Perrault, and the TIKA’s Programme Coordinator in Cameroon, Melih Çağatay Artunay, signed for their respective organisations.

The two-year agreement, according to officials, is a significant milestone for the cooperation between UNICEF and TIKA. 

At the core of the partnership, they said, is the expansion of UNICEF’s flagship U-Report/U-Responders initiative.

The initiative seeks to empower young people with skills, tools, and knowledge needed to act as agents of change within their communities, particularly in areas most exposed to climate shocks and emergencies.

UNICEF and TIKA, authorities said, will pool their expertise, networks, and resources to better target children and young people living in vulnerable contexts.

They stated that initiative will focus on regions affected by recurrent flooding, climate-related disasters, armed conflict, and other humanitarian challenges.

Nadine Perrault described the partnership as a strategic investment in sustainable solutions and reflects their shared commitment to placing children and young people at the centre of solutions to humanitarian, climate, and social crises. 

“By supporting youth engagement and strengthening community capacities, we are investing in sustainable solutions that protect children’s rights today and build a more resilient future for tomorrow,” Perrault said.

On his part, the Programme Coordinator of TİKA in Cameroon, Melih Çağatay Artunay, underlined the role of the agreement in reinforcing Turkish development cooperation in Cameroon and TIKA’s commitment to supporting sustainable human development through education, health, and solidarity.

“TİKA is honoured to partner with UNICEF in an initiative that puts children and youth at the heart of action. This Memorandum of Understanding reflects our vision to promote sustainable human development grounded in education, health, and solidarity,” Çağatay said.

He added that: “By working together, we aim to support concrete initiatives led by young people and communities, while engaging Turkish companies and the diaspora to actively contribute to the promotion of child rights in Cameroon”.

Under the U-Report/U-Responders programme, selected youths, it was said, will undergo specialised training in disaster risk management, children’s rights and emergency response. 

This, officials added, includes practical first-aid skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, hemorrhage control, and fracture management. 

To complement the training, beneficiaries, it was detailed, will be given equipment such as shovels, wheelbarrows, boots, gloves, watering cans, and first aid kits to take concrete actions to protect the environment and respond effectively during emergencies.

The partnership, officials of both institutions noted, equally focuses on sustainable and long-term impact as well as capacity building. 

They added that, it provides for increased involvement of Turkish companies and the Turkish diaspora in supporting local initiatives through financing, awareness campaigns, and innovation in youth-led projects. 

In this regard, guides and training modules will be developed to help integrate children’s rights into the policies and practices of companies and public institutions, they underscored.

The MoU also promotes the use of Public-Private Partnerships and advocacy campaigns as tools to mobilise additional resources and expertise to address humanitarian and climate-related challenges.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3681 of Thursday January 22, 2026