CBCHS, CBM celebrate 13 Years of Partnership in Promoting Disability Inclusive Development in Cameroon
“Celebrating the Past, Looking to the Future” is the summary atmosphere that characterized the Closed-Out ceremony of the partnership between the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS) and the Christian Blind Mission Australia (CBM AusAid) in the past 13 years. It was also a moment to launch phase two of Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID II) to sustain the gains of phase one and give more power to persons with disabilities and the stakeholders looking after them.
The venue was the Skyline Hotel, Upstation Bamenda and the date was February 16, 2023. Participants included: Mayors from 11 Councils who took part in the Council Excellence in Inclusion Award (CEIA); ten from the Northwest and one from the West region, representatives of Decentralized Support Structures, Administrators and Chief Medical Officers of CBCHS hospitals, representatives from CBM Cameroon Office, the CBC Executive President and the Media.
Welcoming participants to the ceremony, Prof. Tih Pius Muffih, Director of Health Services (DHS) revealed that the intercourse between the CBC Health Services and CBM dates back in 1981 but engagement in inclusion started 13 years ago, which is the reason for the celebration. The DHS showered praises on CBM AusAid whose partnership brought in a new impetus into CBC Health Services’ work with persons with disabilities. He also thanked the major stakeholders of CBID 1 (Councils, Decentralized Support Structures and the Media) for a job well done during the period of partnership.
CBM Country Office representative went further to acknowledge the CBC as a very strategic partner to CBM in the African sub-region. For this reason, Mr. Mue Peter Ngha, Regional Quality Manager who deputized for CBM Country Director, Mr. Fon Kenneth, said, “We’re celebrating not only 13 but 40 years of CBM-CBCHS partnership”. Mr. Mue thanked the Mayors for coming in to join the inclusion caravan at a critical point when decentralization is the order of the day in Cameroon.
CBC Executive President and custodian of all CBC institutions, Rev. Dr. Nditemeh Charlemagne rejoiced in the change of narrative for persons with disabilities in Cameroon, thanks to support from faithful partners as CBM. As the first denomination to set foot on Cameroon soil, Rev. Dr. Nditemeh said, the CBC is proud and humbled to remain a trail blazer, now in the domain of inclusive development. The Executive President applauded the leadership of the CBC Health Services for diligently managing the programs and services, which have won many trophies for the CBC as a whole. He challenged the CBC Health Services staff not to rest on their laurels but to work harder in line with his three prongs directive of truth, justice and equity leading to more development and more wins.
Nkambe Council emerges Overall Best
The Close-Out ceremony also celebrated Councils and Decentralized Support Structures as key development actors in promoting Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID). In this light, the CBC Health Services in partnership with CBM and Australian Aid introduced an award titled: “Council Excellence in Inclusion Award (CEIA)” to celebrate Councils and Decentralized Support Structures that have been outstanding in promoting disability inclusion in their municipalities.
Ten Councils in the Northwest and one in the West region (Magba) developed and adopted CBID strategies to their Council Development Plans, which have resulted in the increased participation of persons with disabilities in decision making and municipal development.
A series of five documentaries were projected to showcase the components of interventions that put the 11 Councils in competition. According to the scrutiny of the jury, all the Councils scored above 50 percent in their interventions with Nkambe Council emerging overall best scoring 90 percent, much to the applause of all the stakeholders and much to the satisfaction of the mayor, Musa Shey Nfor.
Runners up in the different categories included:
- Health: Tubah, Wum and Bamenda III Councils
- Education: Jakiri and Bafut Councils
- Social Inclusion: Santa and Fundong Councils
- Safeguarding: Magba, Bamenda I and Bamenda II Councils
- Empowerment: Nkambe Council.
All other stakeholders received awards of appreciation. Paramount among this category were the following Decentralized Support Structures: NASLA Buea, Social Safety Net, MINPT, MINDHU, MINDDEVEL, FEICOM, MINEPAT, MINAS, Regional Assembly, Legal Department, Governor’s Office, MIDENO, UCCC, and Bamenda City Council. Staff of the SEEPD program also received awards for faithfully implementing services to persons with disabilities.
Looking to the Future
The future of the partnership between the CBC Health Services and CBM lies in CBID II which was jointly launched by the CBC Executive President, the Director of Health Services and the representative of CBM Country Director. The Program Manager of the Socio-Economic Empowerment of Services for Persons with Disabilities (SEEPD), Mr. Awa Jacques Chirac presented the CBID II project that runs from 2022 to 2025.