About Me and my Work in Relation to the Sustainable Development Goals
I believe that to be young does not mean incapacity! I have lived the experience that women have capacities that the world can build on to reap ripple effects of change. This has made this slim, chocolate-coloured boy, Desmond Nji Atanga to be a promoter of the welfare of women and girls. My environment had a positive influence to my community engagements. I was raised up single-handedly by my mother. From her, I acquired sewing skills and we were able to make a living out of that. I have witnessed hands-on, what a woman can do.
The truth is that when women are given the opportunity to thrive, they will do wonders. This inner feeling has gradually been transformed into a belief.
UNLEASHLAB is immense opportunity for me to contribute my insights and ideas on how the world can move steps ahead in attaining the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) especially through women and girls. What I do for my country, Cameroon spins around providing girls and women greater welfare and enlightening them about their capabilities to make the world a better place.
Drawn by this belief, I began youth work in 2004 at the age of 12. The high mortality rate in my region caused by HIV/AIDS was an issue to deal with. The fact that young people are relatively more vulnerable and girls are 2 times more than boys makes me poised to take action. I started as a young behaviour change communicator on Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV). In 2004, the Northwest region of Cameroon had the highest prevalence of HIV in Cameroon which stood at 8.7%.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuKVYggLslU.
Every June and July, I would trek for 8 kilometers to the radio from Mondays to Fridays to educate and sensitize my peers on sexual and reproductive health.
Work in this field of development led me to found Deserve in 2015, a non-governmental organization whose mission is to contribute to development of the society through empowerment, awareness and hands-on activities. We work to promote the welfare of women, girls and youth. Thanks to a USD 5,000 grant I won from WomenDeliver as a youngleader, I was able to lead an advocacy project in Cameroon titled, ‘Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE): A Needful Approach to Sexuality Education in Cameroon Secondary Schools.’ The aim of this project is to increase comprehensive sexual and reproductive health awareness and services for secondary school youth in Cameroon; through advocating for a comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) approach in the National Guidance/Counselling terms of reference; and its adequate implementation between July and December, 2016. We directly trained 31 school counsellors on teaching CSE. 25 government officials mainly in the Cameroon Ministry of Secondary Education have committed to institutionalize CSE in schools. We are currently seeking additional funding of USD 15,000 to help us distribute copies of the CSE school programme we developed to 1,384 school counsellors across the country.
As a teacher, I lead a team that does not only teach people about healthy living, but inspires them to become agents of development and progress in their communities. My selection to join other SDG-Talents/ I strongly believe, will enable me share my insights and ideas on Education&ICT. Attending UNLEASH Lab 2017 in Copenhagen, Denmark as a supporter and promoter of the deliver-for-good campaign/, I am poised to contribute strategies for ensuring quality education for kids. I will obviously be wearing a gender lens during this conference. I shall be able to inform participants how ensuring quality and sound sexual and reproductive health information and services for young people can enable them attain positive learning outcomes. This will enable me see through and propose ideas with cognizance of the potentials of women and girls. They need quality education and the adequate support required to thrive in school. ICT has more or less been attributed to boys, but a gender lens used to gain a purview of education will warrant more girls to be trained on ICT. In addition, girls need to be empowered to feel that they can flourish in these avenues. When society invests in girls and women, everyone shall reaps sustained advantages.
