Local Development : What Place For Women, Youths?

Women and youths besides their numerical strength have distinctive qualities and potentials for local development. Existing regulations and directives by authorities oblige and highlight the importance of including these two categories of persons in the nation building of the country, especially at grassroots levels. As the Head of State through government strives to accelerate the decentralisation process in Cameroon, women and youths have an imperative role to play in enhancing the national policy. The July 22, 2004 Law on the orientation of decentralisation in Cameroon, supplemented by the December 24, 2019 General Code on Regional and Local Authorities is quite explicit on the contribution of the population, and in particular young people and women, to their local development. As Regional and Municipal Councils prepare their budgets and development programmes for next year (2023), an aspect to lay emphasis on is the inclusion of women and youths in participatory development; from conception to implementation of projects. Concretely, what place do these regional and local authorities accord women and youths in their zones. 
It can be comfortably said that women who are primary experts in identifying community needs, execution and evaluation of projects, need to be greatly involved in regional and municipal development programmes. Besides improving gender sensitivity, women carry out enlightenment programmes for government policies in tracking their members, the value of social inclusion and community development. 
Youths on their part, represent an important entity which through their inputs as physical strength, mental capacities and exposure, serve as a great tool for improving their communities which makes it essential to determine the extent of their involvement in the development of their municipalities. It is commonly said that “youths are the leaders of tomorrow,” and to be an apt leader in the future, these youths n...