From voice to action: young people redefine accountability in Cameroon

In Soa, in November 2025, something changed in the way public policies are shaped. For three days, government representatives, technical partners, civil society organisations and committed young people came together to translate a regional commitment into national action. But this time, young people were not simply invited to the table. They were helping redesign it.

It all began in April 2023, when twenty-five countries in West and Central Africa, including Cameroon, endorsed the West and Central Africa Commitment for Educated, Healthy and Thriving Adolescents and Young People (WCA Commitment). Behind this declaration lies a clear ambition: to sustainably improve the lives of young people by tackling persistent challenges such as early and unintended pregnancies (EUP), gender-based violence (GBV), and unequal access to education and health services.

Yet a commitment, however ambitious, is not enough. Progress must be measured, results tracked, and, above all, governments and stakeholders must be held accountable.

This is precisely the purpose of the accountability framework validated in Lomé in July 2025, the outcome of a regional process shaped by the voices of more than 600 adolescents. One recommendation emerged clearly: young people must be involved at every stage, from design to evaluation.

Soa: a national turning point driven by collective action

From 12 to 14 November 2025, Cameroon reached a major milestone by adapting this regional framework to its national context. Around the table, an unprecedented coalition took shape, bringing together the Ministries of Education, Health, Youth, Gender and Social Affairs to develop a shared national roadmap.

Far from being a purely technical exercise, the workshop became a space for genuine co-creation. Every stakeholder contributed their perspective, priorities and challenges. At the heart of this process stood one particularly influential voice: the Community of Engaged Young People (CJE).

For CJE Cameroon, the objective was clear: to move beyond consultation and become active contributors.

Two CJE members played key organisational roles throughout the workshop, fundamentally changing the nature of the discussions. Conversations were no longer simply about young people, but with them—and, increasingly, driven by them.

The CJE proposed a series of practical initiatives that reshaped how accountability could be exercised on the ground, including:

• Regional youth committees responsible for collecting local data often missing from official reporting systems.
• Community-based monitoring mechanisms to track gender-based violence in schools, universities and communities.
• A youth-designed digital reporting platform that is accessible, participatory and aligned with young people’s realities.
• A community accountability dashboard regularly updated by youth organisations.
• A national adolescent satisfaction survey on health services, giving young people the opportunity to assess the services intended for them.

These ideas did not remain theoretical. They were incorporated into the national roadmap.

One of the most significant outcomes of the process was the establishment of a National Multisectoral Technical Working Group to oversee implementation of the WCA Commitment in Cameroon. For the first time, representatives of the CJE were formally included as members.

This is far more than a symbolic gesture. It is an official mandate, with a clear objective: ensuring that at least 30% of members of coordination mechanisms are young people. This institutional recognition positions youth not as beneficiaries, but as accountability actors capable of monitoring progress, analysing results and advocating for change.

Towards a new model of adolescent health governance

By the end of the workshop, four major achievements laid the foundation for future action:

• A jointly developed national roadmap aligned with regional priorities.
• A clear accountability matrix defining roles, indicators and data sources.
• An operational multisectoral coordination mechanism to monitor implementation and progress.
• The formal adoption of the accountability framework by the national health authorities, ensuring its institutional ownership.

Beyond these concrete outputs, however, an even deeper transformation is taking place.

The domestication of the accountability framework in Cameroon goes beyond adapting a regional tool. It is redefining how public policies are designed and implemented—making them more open, more collaborative and, ultimately, more accountable.

And throughout this transformation, one lesson stands out: when young people participate meaningfully, systems become not only more inclusive but also more effective. After all, who better than young people themselves to identify what works, what is missing, and what still needs to change?