Wilfred Enow Agbor
Yaounde, Cameroon.
Mr. Ayuketa Oswald Tambe, Director General of the National Civic Service Agency for Participation in Development (NCSAPD), in a press conference organized at his Ministry, informed the public of the activities carried out already by the Agency in preparation to train 1,000 volunteers as part of their program for the year 2013.
The aim of this training is to fight against poverty and unemployment, so that youths become self-sufficient. Over 5,000 jobs have already been created for some youths after the training carried out last year at a cost of about FCFA 770,000,000.
Ayuketa Oswald Tambe Director General of the National Civic Service Agency for Participation in Development
The activities of the Agency for 2013 started in June with a national campaign in respond to President Paul Biya’s call on youth development. Some participants of the campaign were religious leaders who helped to regain the degraded moral standard of youths.
National Civic Service Agency has demanded for assistance from some Ministries, and the Ministry of Social Affairs, for example, is ready to collaborate and accompany the agency during the training of Cameroon youths.
Apart from financial support, the Ministry of Agriculture and Sustainable Development has donated tractors to the agency to facilitate training in the field, to transport products and equipment’s to the farms; transport food during harvest from the farm to the market.
Young women have received aid from the Ministry of Livestock Fisheries and Animal Industries. They will be trained by technicians from the said Ministry. This aid will help them in carrying out poultry farming.
To expand contacts for more aid, NCSAPD intends to get partners like non-governmental organizations, actors of the civil society, diplomatic representatives, artists and even some press organs that can, in one way or the other, support their activities.
A plan has been put in place by NCSAPD to acquire land which can be developed agriculturally and the products sold to fight against food shortages.
The training of the 1,000 volunteers has been divided as follows:
Zone 1 constitutes Adamawa, North and Extreme North Regions respectively – where the Mbororos will be trained.
Zone II includes the East and South Regions where the pygmies will be trained.
Zone III constitute Center and Littoral Regions where street children will be trained.
Zone IV includes West and North West Regions
Finally, for Zone V in the South West Region, the beneficiaries will come from the frontiers of the region like Akwaya, Ekok, Bakassi and Bimbia.
A list of the 1, 000 participants to be trained will be published online. Thirty centers have been created. These centers will be the training grounds for the participants. The participants will be accompanied by 144 professionals with experience in different fields. The professionals will mostly include technicians and engineers from the agricultural sector.
