Cameroon Young Jurists Legal Resource B

13/08/2026

12/08/2026

Meet the team who carried Reproductive Justice across the National Museum floor for 10 days.

From stand to stand, wearing the fair's trilingual messages front and back — "𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬" / "𝐀𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬" — they turned a handicrafts fair into a reproductive justice conversation. Talking with crafters, sharing information, capturing the day for the women who couldn't be there.

In Partnership with MAWFACOOP, they proved a simple truth over and over: 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

Every exchange, every flyer, every recording moves SRHR one step further from paper into practice.

To every crafter who stopped, listened, and asked a question — thank you for making space for this.

10/08/2026

Over 10 days on the artisan floor of SIARC 2026, the project officer, project associate and the rest of the team did what CYJULERC does best — met women where they are.

Stand by stand, they talked with female crafters about their bodies, their rights, and the importance of reproductive health (how an unplanned pregnancy can negatively affect their businesses and the importance of safe abortion and contraception can stabilise their businesses), and where to go for accurate information, care and services. The conversations were trilingual - Pidgin, English, and French - almost all entrepreneurs reached were making the link for the first time.

The response was real. At one stand, full of many crafters, a young crafter pulled out her phone and requested project officer to retake the presentation, and she recorded the full session — she wanted to keep the recoreded information and the flyers and carry it back to the girls in her circle.

By the close of the fair, the team had shared over 2,000 flyers across the National Museum ground to enable the crafters to redistribute to their customers and friends

This is what "rights in practice" looks like: information placed directly in the hands of the women who need it.

06/08/2026

Reproductive Justice met Women's Entrepreneurship for 10 days at the Cameroon International Handicrafts Fair (SIARC), July 27- August 5 2026, inside the National Museum in Yaounde.

The CYJULERC team in partnership with MAWFACOOP took to the artisan floor with trilingual messages — written out on our backs and on our chests:

Common parlance (pigin) for the non literate entrepreneurs:
"𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒊z𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔." — interpreted as "𝑨𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔."

The Messages in English :
1. "𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉, 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔".

2. "𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬:
- 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒔,
- 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬,
- 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬,
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒅; 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑰𝑪𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑰𝒁𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑭𝑨𝑴𝑰𝑳𝒀".

All these messages also had French versions for French-speaking entrepreneurs.

Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment are not two separate struggles — they are one. When a woman can plan her family, she can grow her business, feed her home, and build her future.

Fresh from the International Abortion and Reproductive Justice Conference convened in Kenya, our President came home with a clear charge: "𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝐒𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝐀𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔."

SIARC was the place to begin.

Here's how it went 👇

01/08/2026

With Bureau régional GIZ Yaoundé – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

31/07/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝

These aren’t foreign demands; they are Fundamental Human Rights; they’re equally Cameroon’s own signature.
Every one of the 14 asks traces back to the Maputo Protocol or CEDAW -treaties Cameroon ratified.
We’re asking the state to keep its word and protect women.

Follow the thread

30/07/2026

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 ‘𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤’ 𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲?”
Swipe to see the difference between a law that acts and a law that only exists.

A dedicated VAW law is a first for Cameroon. Getting it right matters for a generation. Here’s what “strong” means, in plain terms.

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23/07/2026

𝐀 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥 (𝐋𝐀𝐖) 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦?

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Gender Network of Female Members of Parliament don't think so and they've taken this concern all the way to the Prime Minister.
𝐖𝐡𝐲? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝?
This week, CYJULERC is asking the question everyone should be asking: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥?
𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠.

16/07/2026

Lunch with Women Parliamentarians & Senators, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations convened by the Club des Ambassadeurs de la Masculinité Positive-CAMP brought together the Diplomatic Corps, international agencies, Honourable Members of Parliament & Senate, and the Minister of Women's Empowerment and the Family to confront the Key concerns of the Draft Law on Violence against Women (VAW) in Cameroon.

15/07/2026

The Minister of Women's Empowerment and the Family, Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa, personally congratulated Justice Esther Ayuk, President of CYJULERC, for her closing remarks and the powerful message she had just delivered to the Female Members of Parliament and Female Senators in the room during an advocacy workshop to halt a weak violence against women law in Yaounde on July 8, 2026. In that warm embrace between two women who have each, in their own way, dedicated years to the protection of women and girls, something more than courtesy was exchanged. The Minister appreciated the fact that CYJULERC is working on strengthen the Draft Law on Violence Against Women, particularly by addressing the gaps that civil society organisations have identified and educating the female members of both houses on the content of a strong law.
Justice Esther Ayuk did not hesitate, she reaffirmed CYJULERC's full commitment to walking this journey with the Ministry, every step of the way. Her experience as a former Prosecutor and Judge, whose years on the bench exposed the systemic barriers that continue to prevent survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) from accessing justice. Through handling countless cases involving violence against women and girls, she witnessed firsthand how legal gaps, procedural barriers, and inconsistent application of the law often leave survivors without effective protection or redress, and perpetrators unpunished.
These experiences have consistently revealed critical weaknesses within Cameroon’s legal framework on SGBV. They include restrictive provisions governing in**st cases, the law requires a complaint from a family member, yet families often protect perpetrators rather than survivors, leaving many cases unreported and unprosecuted. Similarly, although CYJULERC successfully advocated for raising the legal age of marriage from 15 to 18 years in the Penal Code, conflicting provisions in the Civil law and Civil Status Ordinance continue to create inconsistencies, allowing laws to be interpreted and applied differently by Prosecutors and Judges. Whenever these institutional weaknesses are raised, stakeholders point back to the Penal Code, which itself contains significant limitations in addressing SGBV comprehensively.
These persistent gaps demonstrate that piecemeal reforms are no longer sufficient and thus the urgent need for a comprehensive standalone law on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence that closes legal loopholes, harmonises existing legislation, guarantees consistent, survivor-centred justice and comprehensive protection across Cameroon.
This embrace, brief as it was, reaffirms continuous collaboration between government and civil society, working hand in hand to craft a law that truly protects every woman and every girl in Cameroon.
The road ahead calls for all of us. Let us keep building the VAW bill together.