CHAMEG lobbies for fair representation of women in local governance

The Civil Society group known as Changing Mentality Empowering Groups, CHAMEG, has stayed focused in lobbying and sensitizing women to get involve in local Governance.

The Chameg director Magdalene Agbor started her campaign as far back as June, 30, where she held a dialogue session with the bakassi mayors on the situation of female representation in their councils.

Present at the session were the Mayors of Kumbo Abedimo, Kumbo Etindi and Idabato coordinated by Mayor Caro Mewanu of Isangele.

After over one hour of discussions, the Chameg director observed with satisfaction that the men are accommodating more and more women in politics across the South West Region region.

She observed that even more significantly in the bakassi community it is one to write home about.

This is clearly so because the bakassi community has a system that encourages and educates women to value civic engagement and helps them to see themselves as empowered leaders in politics and public policy. Another question the group was to explore to is whether women in public office have a distinct impact on public policy.

They equally pondered if women have a different political interest than men, and under what circumstances and conditions as well as if women officeholders bring to the office important perspectives and priorities that are underrepresented in a male dominated policy making environment.

At the forum of August 28, 2014, decision makers and Mayors expressed their support for the establishment of gender task force in councils to facilitate and sustain female participation and inclusion in local governance. However, women were advised to improve on their leadership skills and financial power if they must succeed.

Women in this light solicited Chameg to organize workshops and coaching lessons to build the leadership and communication abilities of women.

Chameg was further challenged to access and make available to women micro-loans to enable them improve on their processing and marketing cooperatives to earn better incomes.

On a more subtle note the director of Chameg, Agbor Magdalene, thanked the administration and the populations for supporting the implementation of the project and promised to look into all suggestions made for possible follow-up and implementation.

She equally gave thanks to and asked the women to do same to the major partner of the project of African Women Development Fund for taking an interest in the women folk in Cameroon and Africa as a whole.