CADEF Cameroon · Programme pillar
Dignity. Informed choices. Equal opportunities.
Programme overview
CADEF’s programme focus brings together gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and women’s empowerment. It supports the dignity, participation and opportunities of girls and women, with attention to protection, education and wellbeing.
Why it matters in Cameroon
Unequal opportunities, harmful practices, violence and gaps in information or practical support can limit girls’ and women’s participation. Menstrual health, education access and respectful community dialogue are closely connected.
What CADEF does
- Promote age-appropriate information and respectful dialogue on rights, menstrual health and wellbeing.
- Address barriers to girls’ education and participation.
- Raise awareness of harmful practices and gender-based violence through community engagement.
- Encourage girls’ and women’s leadership, skills and equal opportunities.
Programme background and context
Gender equality connects girls’ safety and education with women’s participation, informed choices and economic opportunities. CADEF’s programme brings together age-appropriate SRHR information, menstrual health, prevention of harmful practices and support for girls’ and women’s leadership.
Unequal access to learning, resources and livelihoods can reinforce dependence and limit participation. Menstrual-health information and practical support are important parts of respectful community engagement, alongside attention to protection risks.
- 2025 labour-force participation, ages 15+: the World Bank’s 2026 profile reports 56.6% for women and 73.9% for men.
- 2023 adolescent fertility: the same profile reports 107 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19.
- Child-marriage survey, 2018: 29.8% of women aged 20–24 had married or entered a union before age 18, as reported in that profile.
CADEF’s approach connects rights awareness, community dialogue, inclusive education, practical skills and girls’ dignity. UNFPA’s May 2026 update also highlights continuing displacement and sexual-violence risks in the North-West, South-West and Far North, reinforcing the need for safe access to reproductive-health and protection support.
Sources: World Bank Gender Data Landscape, 2026 edition, p. 1; UNFPA Cameroon situation report, May 2026.
Featured projects and programmes
Documented activities · Limbe · 2023
My Body My Pride
Menstrual hygiene education, practical demonstrations and support for adolescent girls in underserved communities.
Explore this work →Programme background · published 2022
Girls’ education and opportunity
Connections between education access, safety, menstrual hygiene and inclusive learning.
Explore this work →Explore selected programme records and learning from CADEF’s work.
Results and stories
Through My Body My Pride, CADEF brought menstrual hygiene education and practical support to adolescent girls in three communities in Limbe Municipality. Education sessions and practical demonstrations connected information with everyday needs, placing girls’ dignity and participation at the centre.
Partners and resources
Adolescent girls, women, caregivers, schools and community actors inform this work. Health and protection collaboration should support safe, respectful participation, with partner contributions acknowledged in the relevant project records.
Get involved
Support girls’ dignity and women’s opportunities
Discuss a partnership around menstrual health, inclusive education, skills or community-led gender equality.