In an effort to accelerate the reduction of social inequalities and create a more equitable and just society in Cameroon, the SWEDD 2 Project has obtained equipment and materials to improve the situation of women in the Sahel region. These include, among others, 12 mobile clinics, 4 refrigerated trucks, 3 ambulances, 3 podium trucks and 5 forklifts. According to Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey, developing Cameroon’s human capital requires the empowerment of women and girls.
On 15 May 2025, the second phase of the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project (SWEDD-2) was officially launched in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The results of SWEDD-2 and other projects carried out over the past three years were shared with technical and financial partners. However, Alamine Ousmane Mey, Cameroon’s Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, emphasised that developing Cameroon’s human capital requires the empowerment of women and girls, particularly in the Sahel regions.
I would like to reiterate the Government of Cameroon’s commitment to supporting this important initiative. So far, we have covered three regions, and we hope that SWEDD 2, the next phase of this important programme, will cover the entire nation.
Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development
To accelerate the reduction of social inequalities and create a more equitable and just society in Cameroon, the SWEDD 2 Project has obtained equipment and materials to improve the situation of women in the Sahel region.This includes 12 mobile clinics, four refrigerated trucks, three ambulances, three podium trucks and five forklifts, among other items. The handover on Thursday adds to the project’s various achievements so far, which include the distribution of 32,000 school kits containing school bags, 3,000 menstrual hygiene kits, 3,000 literacy kits, 1,040 bicycles, 67 adolescent reproductive health units, 165 vocational training centres, and 16 midwifery schools.
It should be recalled that the SWEDD project made it possible to distribute one million doses of modern contraceptives, to fill the gap in contraceptive methods and to substantially reduce the rupture rate at the operational level, which fell from 40% to 20%, and thus to improve family planning coverage.
Mbah Ngami Alphonse Glory, National Coordinator of the SWEDD project in Cameroon
The SWEDD project implemented in Cameroon since February 2022 is accelerating the country’s demographic transition, triggering a demographic dividend and reducing gender inequalities. Funded by the World Bank and supported by the UNFPA, the African Union, the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and several NGOs, SWEDD is well placed to achieve its goals, according to experts.
