The Cameroon Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Cameroon, through its Advocacy for Comprehensive Abortion Care (ACAC) project and civil society organisations, has joined forces to push for the advancement of a draft law on sexual and reproductive health rights and other policies in Cameroon.
CAMNAFAW hosted the September 3 meeting organised by the Cameroon Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (SOGOC) and the ODAS Centre, during which civil society organisations were updated on the progress of the draft SRHR law and the domestication of Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol.
The meeting, moderated by Guy Martial Mendo Ze, Focal Point for Centre ODAS in Cameroon, was an opportunity to welcome new and dynamic members into the SOGOC civil society platform.
Guy Martial Mendo Ze, the recently designated Center ODAS focal point, had the chance to outline his action plan during the meeting. When ODAS receives legal standing in March 2027, it will be feasible to execute an agreement with the Ministry of Public Health and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice.
He disclosed that research on the best practices of cooperation among civil society organisations in their pursuit of an SRHR law will be carried out at the end of the year and that work on its project Radar will be intensified to be ahead of critics. The necessity of uniting forces to protect the Maputo Protocol—which is facing opposition from some quarters—was emphasised, with actions to be taken both locally and at the African Union.
Given that advocacy does not make sense without statistics, Prof. Felix Essiben presented the clinical situation of abortion in some hospitals, a shocking reality of what doctors encounter daily. He said that, in the case of incest, only 16.6 per cent of the cases are reported, with about 80 per cent of the cases happening at the age of 18 and about five per cent at the age of 1-6 years. Only one in 20 rapists is condemned in Cameroon, with rape considered the most common case of physical and sexual violence reported in hospitals. Of the 572 cases of abortion registered at the Yaounde Central Hospital, 167 had abortion-related complications, and four women lost their lives to abortion, according to a study from 2022 to 2025.
These statistics, however disturbing, participants said were only the tip of the iceberg, considering the limited access to health care services in rural and remote areas and a call to action for all to contribute their quota to the advocacy for safe abortion and the promulgation of a law on SRHR.