The Gendered Face Of The Poverty Reduction Strategy (Prs): Assessing The Gender Sensitivity Of Cameroon\'s Strategy

Abstract

Decades of efforts to overcome poverty in developing countries have yielded very little success. In spite of the enormous help received by Cameroon from the international community in terms of funding, loans and debt relief all geared towards development and consequently the alleviation of poverty, the country still faces a serious crisis of poverty. Contemporary studies have pointed out the lack of gender consideration in the country's development policy/interventions as one of the major reasons for this slow response. In order to qualify as one of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), Cameroon embarked on a poverty reduction strategy (PRS). As one of the eligible countries, this paper therefore examines the sensitivity of Cameroon's strategy in reducing poverty among its impoverished population. The paper notes that gender mainstreaming has over the years remained at the project level with very little impact on the development of the country. Also, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and the Family which is suppose to push forward such ideas has not succeeded to make gender mainstreaming a part of government policy.
However, some years after the introduction of the poverty reduction strategy, the Cameroon government is making an effort, though at a very slow pace. The paper examines how gender was dealt with during the different phases and the extent to which gender considerations were reflected in the final PRS. The paper concludes that it is necessary to reach the completion point in order to rescue Cameroonians from the poverty trap which has become disturbing to many.


International Journal of Emotional psychology and sport ethics (IJEPSE) Vol. 7 2005: pp. 44-58