This workshop comes up barely three months after the commemoration of the 39th International Women’s Day, during which the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Beti Assomo Joseph made a special appeal to the gender focal points of his ministry through his speech which did not fall on deaf ears.

Thus, in line with government recommendations to integrate the gender dimension into all actions and programs, the Ministry of Defence has appointed gender focal points in all its structures. The general objective being, to combat gender-based violence within the Defence Forces and empowering women and girls in the military.

This conference therefore comes to inform the various gender focal points in the Ministry of Defence as well as the staff of certain departments about their role and responsibilities and why not, to reflect on ways and means of integrating gender perspectives into all the activities of the Ministry of Defence by setting up a roadmap.

In other words, participants were provided with in-depth understanding of the concept of gender in the Cameroonian context, their roles and responsibilities were dished out to them, they identified the various tasks and activities likely to contribute to the integration of a gender perspective within the Ministry, they took stock of gender mainstreaming in the Ministry of Defence, identified ways and means of better integrating a gender perspective into all activities of the Ministry of Defence and also identified ways to advance the women, peace and security agenda at the Ministry of Defence.

The workshop brought together gender focal points of the Secretariats of State to the Minister of Defence, the Central Staffs and decentralize services.

While experts were drawn from the Ministry of women empowerment and the family alongside the United Nations Population Fund equally helped in facilitating the workshop.