Cameroon’s Unity human rights watchdog project expands

Cameroon’s LGBTI rights watchdog group is adding an advocacy office and getting a new logo.

New logo of the Unity Platform

By Steeves Winner

The 32 LGBTI rights organizations that formed Cameroon’s human rights watchdog group, the Unity Platform, gathered recently in Yaoundé to review the organization’s operations.

The Unity Platform and its governing body, the National Observatory for the Rights of LGBTI People and their Advocates, began operations in 2017.

Representatives of the 32 member organizations met Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 in an undisclosed secure setting, away from homophobic glances and hate speech.

The participants represented each member organization of the Unity Platform, including Camfaids, Alternatives Cameroon, Affirmative Action and Colibri, to name but a few. Human rights attorney Michel Togue was on hand to help with the discussions.

The gathering decided to establish an ad hoc advocacy committee that will work side-by-side with the Unity office and human rights observatory.

The assembly also selected a new logo from three that were proposed.

The vision of the Unity Platform is to build a Cameroonian society ​​based on the values of justice, freedom, equality, democracy, tolerance and respect for individual rights as well as for socio-economic, political, civic and cultural rights. Its mission is to promote and protect the rights of LGBT + people and their defenders, as well as to strengthen the bonds of solidarity and the capacities of LGBT+ organizations.

It aims to create a national space for consultation and sharing experiences on strategies for the protection of human rights linked to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Its activities include collecting reports about gender-based violence and producing an annual report about human rights violations in Cameroon.

Steeves Winner, the author of this article, is an activist for LGBTI rights in Cameroon who writes under a pseudonym. Contact him at [email protected]

Related article:

• In Cameroon, LGBT groups start working together — at last (January 2017, 76crimes.com)