Supporting Girls Back to School in Cameroon's Forgotten Crisis

Standing in the sun outside a shop on a leafy, bustling and noisy street in Limbé in south west Cameroon, it was hard to imagine the conflict that has racked the west of the country for nearly a decade, killing thousands of people and keeping more than a million of children out of school. 

I was there to speak to 16-year-old Naomi* and find out how her Street Child-supported apprenticeship at a local cosmetic shop was going. Through Street Child’s Girls Resilience and Empowerment Project, Naomi had participated in business skills training and was now putting it into practice. We were standing outside together, appreciating what a great spot it was for passing customers, and talking about how well other girls who had been participating in the project were getting on. With the support of the Dorothea Haus Ross Foundation, we helped 200 girls aged 14-17 who had been affected by the conflict to get back into school or start work.   

Naomi could clearly remember the violence she’d escaped. She told me she really missed her friends and family in Bamenda - city in the north west -  but was so happy to be getting an income, and to be living somewhere where ‘you don’t hear gunshots, and you don’t see people killed in the street’. 

For nearly a decade, armed conflict has gripped north west and south west Cameroon. Separatist groups, who are fighting for independence from the national government, have used lethal force to prevent the local populations from working, enforcing so-called ‘ghost towns’ where no one is permitted to work, and preventing children from going to school. This conflict is consistently called the most under-reported crisis in the world.  

Those who make it to Limbé are amongst the more fortunate – nearly all schools are open there. But in further regions of the south and north west, a significant number are still closed. Many children in this area have now grown up without ever going to school. Even when schools are reopened, many children have been away so long that they can’t see a way to go back.   

Those regions are where Street Child’s new ‘ACCESS’ programme is focused. With the support of the Stone Family Foundation, ACCESS is now helping 3,000 out-of-school girls in the most conflict-affected regions to catch up on learning, and return to school. Our satellite learning spaces bring lessons directly to children by using existing community spaces such as places of worship. The results are really promising - after just a few months, the proportion of girls who could read at least one word had increased by 50%. 

Girls who are able to read and write have better life chances, healthier families and greater participation in their societies. What struck me most in Limbé was how much personal pride every girl had in having taken the opportunity that Street Child offered them - to now be earning for themselves and their family. And how glad they were to be safe. 

*name changed for safeguarding purposes.