The operational capacity building activity was carried out in line with our 24-months initiative called the YOUTH ORGANIZATION UPRAISED NETWORK FOR GROWTH AND PEACE (YOUNG-CAMEROON PROJECT). This initiative mainly seeks to increase the leadership and commitment of young people as part of peacebuilding efforts in Cameroon. It will take a step-by-step approach directed by the 360 Youth Model for Youth Empowerment developed by Search for Common Ground, to increase the involvement of youth in policy discourse, as well as inclusive engagements as social peace and governance actors in Cameroon. The YOUNG-Cameroon Project is an initiative funded by the European Union in Cameroon in accordance with the EU’s worldwide mandate. It is implemented by Local Youth Corner Cameroon in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education Cameroon.
The Operational Capacity Building activities were carried out in the ten regions of Cameroon and they ran from September through October 2023. The main objective of these workshops were to improve the operational and programmatic capacities of youth-led CSOs, specifically to strengthen their skills in design, implementation and improve collaboration and trust between youth-led organizations. These workshops were structured as 3-day operational capacity ‘crash course’ training for five participating youth organizations in each of Cameroon’s 10 regions, totaling 10 trainings, with a total of 100 participants from 50 Youth Organizations.
The workshops were tailored to the needs of participating organizations in each region and included participative modules on: fundraising, project management, project design, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluation, among other topics. Through these trainings, participants benefited from a collaborative space for organizations within the same region. They were able to build trust, and learn collaboratively. It also contributed to the sustainability of the YPS coalition to be established later by promoting the longevity and self-sustainability of youth-led YPS organizations.
To achieve this training, trainers and consultants developed a comprehensive training guide on programme management, financial management for development professionals, logistics and procurement training, human resource. This process was facilitated by a needs assessment tool which was developed and administered with all target organizations.
The training began with the administration of a pre-test evaluation, participants shared their expectations, introduction of projects and activity, training proper (which included an interactive session between the trainers, facilitators and participants) practical exercises, and the administration of a post test to apprehend participant knowledge improvement. The sessions were delivered in English and French depending on the region and the language proficiency of the participants. Sessions were interactive with participants engaging more to share on their particular organizational strengths and/weakness. Trainers equally engaged participants in group work sessions which enabled facilitators to evaluate their understanding of the topics.
The last day of the workshop, the participants harmonized the various group works and included the remarks and observations made during the different presentations. ’Before this, we usually did not apply for some grants because we did not know how to draft an activity based budget on excel but today we are more confident to apply for grants.’ said Mme Sylvie Mbuna, Participant in the East Region, Scouts of Cameroon
Our follow up methods included creating WhatsApp groups and mailing lists to facilitate communication between participants as well as serve as a platform to share resources which could help improve the knowledge and skills of the participants after the workshops. Some of these documents included the training manuals, Project management for development professionals, MEAL for development professionals, financial management for development professionals and our sample policies (finance, Human resource, [procurement and logistics, child protection) to help these organizations develop and improve theirs. “Before attending this training my organization did not have the knowledge to design a proper concept note proposal hence we found it difficult to gain funding or create partnership, but thanks to what we have learned these 3 days, we are confident to make a change’. Shared a participant
Conclusively, this first phase of the project was a great success with participants revealing the importance of the knowledge and technical skills they had just gotten from the workshops. The participants expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to enhance their abilities and acknowledged the positive impact it would have on their future endeavors. They also highlighted the need for continued support and similar initiatives to further develop their expertise in the field.