“Residential workshop towards a humanitarian response that better addresses the specific protection and assistance needs of adolescent boys and men” – 1st of June 2023, Buea, South West Region – Cameroon organized by GenGap

Summarized Report; Residential workshop towards a humanitarian response that better addresses the specific protection and assistance needs of adolescent boys and men 1st of June 2023, BUEA, SOUTH WEST REGION Chelsea Kunbid Pasiah (PhD Fellow in Public Health & Hygiene) National Coordinator & GBV Case Manager Workshop Representative, YADEF According to the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the residential training “the socio-political crisis that has unfolded for the past six years in the north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon has led to the displacement of over one million people, with two million people in need of assistance. It has affected girls and women differently than men and boys. The vulnerabilities and needs of girls and women have been recognized and addressed to the extent that available funding allows. There has been less attention to the armed dispute’ intense impact on adolescent boys and men, which has not allowed for understanding the gendered impact that crisis has on them. In line with the Gender in Humanitarian Action roadmap (2021-2022) for Cameroon that requires the provision of an informed response, the GenCap advisor conducted a research focusing on how adolescent boys and men are coping with the economic and psychological strains resulting from the crisis and how their struggles affect girls and women, as well as the society at large. Captured in the report “A more generous embrace”, the analysis also explores how the perceptions, attitudes and modus operandi of humanitarian actors shape the way in which adolescent boys and men’s assistance and protection needs are understood and are addressed. The consequences of neglecting their needs are not just potentially disastrous to them but also put women and girls at additional risks and affects, indirectly, the security, resilience and cohesion of the broader society. Understanding distinct needs is pivotal to enhanced protection and tailored programming: The situation in the North-West and South-West regions has been differently affecting women, girls, boys, and men. They all face common and yet distinct protection risks adopt different coping mechanisms and have distinct views and needs on the support that humanitarian assistance and protection responses could bring. Addressing violations against women and girls should remain a priority. It is also crucial, however, to pay greater attention to the protection crisis’ impact on vulnerable populations of all genders and age groups. This is not happening when it comes to adolescent boys and men. Thirty-six per cent of the project proposal narratives developed as part of the Humanitarian Response Plan 2021 mention how the situation is affecting women and girls. This proportion drops to seven per cent when it comes to discussing how it affects men and boys. Similarly, wide disparities can be seen in how the activities included in project proposals cater for assistance and protection needs. Here again girls and women receive the overwhelming share of attention. Much of this imbalance is a result of the perception that females are most in need and that males can cope. There is also the view that donors will be more interested in interventions targeting other groups amid funding restraints, and the concern that assisting boys and men risks inadvertently putting money into the hands of combatants. Men and boys also face challenges accessing help from service providers who have historically identified women and children as those most in need of support and who have designed and rolled out their services, implicitly or explicitly, with them in mind. “Humanitarian organizations and donors need to expand their vision of who the people in need are”. That means making use of the available data disaggregated by sex and age to conduct a thorough analysis of vulnerabilities. It also means providing a response that goes beyond assistance to pre-defined categories. Understanding how the lives of men, women, girls and boys interact and how their realities affect each other will help develop responses that are truly evidence-based and that are commensurate to the needs of all members of society”. Workshop aims and objectives: In March 2023, the Humanitarian Country Team asked that the recommendations made in the report be operationalized and requested to be briefed on progress made by this summer. Findings from the report have influenced the funding priorities of some donors and are also part of the protection sector priorities. Different organizations from the sector have also adapted their programmes to ensure men’s and boys’ risks are better prevented and addressed. The workshop, organized by GenCap in collaboration with the protection sector, envisions to genuinely shifting practices, allowing for the provision of an efficient and equitable assistance. It has been designed with a twofold aim: 1-Based on the presentation of the findings of the report, raise participants’ understanding and attention to the specific situation of adolescent boys and men, reflecting on the inter-sectionality of their struggles and the effects that this has on girls and women, as well as the society at large. 2-Identify operational avenues for program adaptation. For example, the following questions were discussed during the workshop:  In a context where the male population (especially youth) tends to be suspected of being involved in armed violence, how can we make their targeting in our programs safe (not exposing organizations to suspicion or additional difficulties)?  How can the different clusters better assess and address the specific barriers that the male population faces in accessing assistance (fear of arrest, shame, perception that certain services are not for them, etc.)?  How can we better prevent the specific protection risks faced by the male population?  What can be done to better engage adolescents and men in community-based protection initiatives?  How can we ensure that GBV services are more accessible to male survivors? How can we better equip staff to provide non-discriminatory and adapted support? 3-Define key actions that should be implemented by the inter cluster and the clusters. The perception is that in a crisis setting women and girls are most affected and therefore should receive the highest concern and assistance. This makes many NGOs and humanitarian actors in Cameroon for example to leave out adolescent boys and adult in most humanitarian programming and response. The worst of it is the perception that since most combatant in armed conflicts are usually boys and adults, in most case even those innocent are targeted. Many have suffered for what they know nothing about including human rights violations and many adolescent boys and adults continue to suffer in the current crisis in Cameroon but very little assistance or no attention is given specifically to address the plights of this group of persons. From the onset, YADEF has had assistance tailored to this group of persons in the South West region of Cameroon. The following but not exclusively are some of the specific programming of YADEF from 2022 which addresses the protection needs of adolescent boys and adults within the context of the crisis in NWSW Regions of Cameroon; • YADEF advocacy targets various protection and human rights abuses and violations on adolescent boys and adults such as unlawful arrest and detention, intruding of privacy, seizure of properties, beatings and other inhumane treatments. YADEF also blends this with advocacy holding perpetuators accountable for the violations of the human rights and infliction of pains on civilian population (adolescent boys and adults • Advocacy for increased access to civil documentation especially for persons adolescent boys and adults) living in conflict zones • Also capacity building of youths, adolescent boys and adults on what they are supposed to be doing in order not to get involved in violent extremism, kidnapping or actors to conflicts. This includes their communications using various media and their social interaction within crisis communities. We educate youths to be ambassadors for community peace and this will serve as way of reducing the involvement of youths armed operations • We assist some adolescent boys and adults (IDPs) with civil documentation; providing financial assistance and support to establishing National Identity Cards and other vital documents like driving licenses etc which were either destroyed within the crisis. Therefore, as a recommendation, more advocacy should be done so that civil documentation establishment procedures can be made easy and accessible to youths and adults • Also, with availability of resources, we hope to tailored livelihood empowerment programs to youths, adolescents’ boys so that they have a source of livelihoods or are enrolled into education, vocational training or any other capacity building and skill development. This will make youths (males) and adolescents see very little incentives of joining non state armed groups as a way of looking for a source of money. Key Notes • YADEF gained more capacity on addressing the specific needs of adolescent boys and adults • YADEF also applauds the author of the report – “a more generous embrace” for her wonderful and insightful work. We will be using this report as a working tool for mainstreaming protection of boys and adulescents in our programming. All in all, YADEF will fully integrate the recommendations of this report into her programming in crisis affected communities in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. We also thank the GenGap Team for this great opportunity for selecting YADEF in this residential training. We deeply appreciate and we say of more of such trainings and capacity building comes up, we will be honored to participate and share our field experiences. For researchers, Civil Society Activist who are interested in this report by Delphine Brun, YADEF is available to share this report. Kindly contact us via the email: info@yadef.org Reference: • “A more generous embrace”: Why addressing the needs of adolescent boys and men is essential to an effective humanitarian response in Cameroon’s North West and South West, Delphine Brun, July 2022.