"Women's Rights Not An Option:” APF Women's Network Opens Strategic Session In Yaoundé

On July 8, 2026, the global spotlight turned firmly toward the Cameroon Senate as female lawmakers from across the French-speaking world convened for the highly anticipated meeting of the Women Parliamentarians Network.

The crucial gathering is a core component of the ongoing 51st Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie, APF. Which has transformed the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé into the epicenter of international parliamentary diplomacy this week.

Over 300 Delegates

Bringing together more than 300 delegates representing dozens of national parliaments across five continents, the 51st APF session underscores Cameroon's central role as a diplomatic anchor in Central Africa. While the broader assembly addresses global geopolitics, economic governance, and youth inclusion, today's session in the Cameroon Senate focused squarely on transforming institutional frameworks to protect and advance the rights of women.

Transcontinental Chain

Stepping in to chair the meeting on behalf of the network’s president, Mrs. Viviane Teitelbaum, the First Vice President of the APF Women Parliamentarians Network, Cameroon's Mrs. Époube Lydienne, opened the floor with an impassioned call to action.

Not Secondary Priority

Lydienne reflected deeply on the progress built during the network's recent intersessional summit in Yamoussoukro. Extending profound gratitude to the President of the Ivorian Senate, Kandia Camara, for fostering a highly collaborative environment in Côte d'Ivoire. Lydienne urged the delegates to carry that identical momentum into the Yaoundé sessions. Emphasizing that the legislative advancement of women must never be treated as a secondary political priority.

Not An Option

"Our Network is precisely that: a chain of determined women, from one parliament to another, from one continent to another, who refuse to let women'...