As part of the fight against girls dropping out of school in the North, Adamaoua and Far North regions, where more than 60% of girls leave school before university, SWEDD Cameroon has launched a major campaign to distribute 30,000 school kits. The official launch ceremony will take place on 21 October in Demsa, in the North region.

This initiative is part of a wider project by the Cameroon PMU aimed at reducing the growing number of girls leaving school before completing their studies. By offering school kits, the Cameroon PMU aims to ease the financial burden on families and encourage young girls to stay in school.

The kits, made up of essential supplies such as exercise books, pens and maths tools, are intended for pupils from the second year of primary school up to the final year of secondary school, in both the French-speaking and English-speaking education sub-systems. The aim is to ensure that these young girls have the resources they need to continue their education without interruption.

Studies carried out by SWEDD reveal a drop-out rate of 3.0% for the northern regions as a whole, with a peak of 10.4% in rural areas.

Nearly 7 out of 10 girls who have dropped out are still in primary school, while 63.9% of girls who have dropped out are Christian and just over a third of them (67.6%) are aged between 16 and 18, according to the study report: Etude sur le décrochage scolaire et les stratégies de maintien des filles à l'école dans les régions septentrionales du Cameroun.

As well as distributing supplies, the campaign aims to raise awareness in local communities of the importance of educating girls. SWEDD Cameroon is working closely with parents, community leaders and schools to highlight the long-term benefits of keeping girls in school, both for them and for the development of their communities.

‘Education is a powerful tool for breaking the cycle of poverty and enabling young girls to build a better future,’ said Dr Mbah Ngami Alphonse Glory, SWEDD Cameroon National Coordinator. ‘By providing these school kits, we are not just responding to an immediate need, we are investing in the future of these young women.’

Financed by the World Bank, which has allocated CFAF 45 billion to support the entire SWEDD project in Cameroon, and with technical assistance from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), this distribution campaign will extend from Demsa to other localities in the northern regions, in order to reach the 30,000 expected beneficiaries.

With this initiative, SWEDD Cameroon hopes to significantly reduce the drop-out rate and offer more girls the opportunity to complete their studies. This is a crucial step towards closing the gender gap in education and promoting the long-term development of these regions.

As the campaign progresses, the Cameroon PMU will continue to work with local stakeholders to create an enabling environment for girls' education, offering a brighter future to thousands of young women across the country.