BMZ, CBM funds 4-Year Project to strengthen Ear, Hearing Capacities in Cameroon
Project Staff of “The Strengthening Ear and Hearing Care Capacities in Cameroon Project” have been trained on the requirements of the funder of the project the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The 3-day workshop took place from November 26 to 28, 2024 at the Baptist Center Nkwen Bamenda. The staff were trained by the Programmatic Coordinator Project Delivery Africa West and Central, Lucas Decker from Germany and the CBM Country Program Manager, Sakwe ITOE Mbone and her team.
During the workshop, Lucas Decker and Sakwe drilled staff on project activities, expectations, and guidelines for finance, visibility, reporting, and other areas of implementation. The CBM Country Program Manager in her presentation expressed that based on Christian values, CBM works in the poorest regions of the world to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities and is also committed to the prevention of disabilities.
On his part, Lucas Decker presented BMZ as the project funding partner. He said BMZ promotes economic development through international cooperation and partnership. Lucas implored staff to work relentlessly to meet the expectations of BMZ and the project results. The CBM Country Community Based Inclusive Development Officer, Mispa Tebon emphasized on reporting expectations and deadlines which is crucial for the success of the project. The CBM Finance Officer, Adolphe Wachou Diemnou called on staff to speed up activities implementation to meet the finance consumption rate of the first quarter of the project.
Speaking during the workshop, the Director of CBC Health Services, Mr. Ngum Samuel and the Project Manager, Mr. Awa Jacques Chirac applauded BMZ and CBM for trusting CBC Health Services and investing funds to support CBC Health Services to improve its quality of healthcare in the community. Propping into the situation of Hearing loss in Cameroon, the Program Manager disclosed that 20% of the world’s population live with some degree of hearing loss, 430 million of them are hard of hearing or deaf.
According to Mr Awa, in Cameroon, infectious environmental factors are the main cause of hearing loss and account for 52.6% to 62.2%of hearing loss cases. The design of the project is informed by the insufficiently trained Ear and Hearing Care (EHC) professionals, limited capacity, lack of equipment, lack of access to EHC consulting and treatment, and lack of EHC National Plan. He highlighted in his presentation that for 4 years the project will focus on capacity building of EHC professionals, services accessibility, and policy development.
Staff expressed gratitude to CBC Health Services, BMZ and CBM for the workshop which has situated them on the concept of the project and its expectations. They promised to put in their best to achieve the goal of the project.
The 4-year project has as goal to improve the quality of life of people with hearing impairment or ear disease in the Northwest, Littoral, and Center Regions. The objective of the Project is for 112,500 people with (or at risk) of hearing loss or ear diseases to utilize improved EHC services in the project regions.
The project which is funded by BMZ and implemented by CBM and CBC Health Services will run from November 2024 to December 2028.
