The ongoing armed conflict in Cameroon’s North West and South West (NWSW) regions has profoundly disrupted social cohesion, weakened institutional structures, and eroded community safety systems. Within this fragile context, women and girls face multiple layers of vulnerability—displacement, sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), poverty, and exclusion from decision-making spaces. As the crisis deepens, Women-Led Organizations (WLOs) and grassroots women’s groups have emerged as first responders, providing psychosocial support, community awareness, and frontline GBV prevention and response. Yet, despite their central role, these organizations remain severely underdeveloped, underfunded, and ill-equipped to sustain or expand their work.

The humanitarian crisis has magnified long-standing gender inequalities and social norms that normalize violence against women and girls. Many survivors of GBV have limited access to services due to insecurity, stigma, and inadequate referral systems. In the NWSW, state and non-state actors’ strained relations have further constrained humanitarian access, leaving WLOs as the only trusted structures in hard-to-reach communities such as Nguti and Idenau. However, most of these women’s groups operate informally, lack technical knowledge of GBV concepts, and have minimal organizational development support. Their interventions, though noble, are often ad hoc and lack strategic coordination, monitoring systems, and links with formal protection mechanisms.

The Capacity Needs Assessment revealed that the majority of WLOs in Nguti and Idenau possess strong community legitimacy and passion but lack essential advocacy, organizational management, and technical GBV response skills. Leaders of these organizations demonstrated limited awareness of international gender frameworks, GBV norms, and survivor-centered approaches. Many operate without structured leadership systems, resource mobilization plans, or access to training opportunities. As a result, their ability to provide effective and sustained GBV prevention and response remains restricted. The assessment further found that these organizations have limited partnerships and networking opportunities, restricting their inclusion in broader humanitarian coordination platforms.

In a region where the crisis has displaced thousands, and where humanitarian interventions are often short-term and externally driven, the lack of investment in the capacity of WLOs undermines sustainable, localized solutions. Strengthening these women’s organizations is not only a gender-equity imperative but also a strategic necessity for effective humanitarian response and recovery. Empowering WLOs means building resilient community structures that can continue protection, advocacy, and peacebuilding long after emergency actors withdraw.

The Capacity Needs Assessment was therefore conceived as a foundational step to diagnose existing gaps, identify training and capacity-building priorities, and design tailored interventions to strengthen women-led organizations as trusted GBV actors in their communities. It underscored the urgent need for systematic investment in skills development, organizational governance, and networking to ensure that women can lead and sustain community transformation efforts.

The remarkable results from this project clearly demonstrate how much impact can be achieved when resources meet the will. LUKMEF-Cameroon calls on partners, donors, and institutions committed to gender equality, localization, and community resilience to join hands in scaling up and replicating this initiative across other crisis-affected areas of Cameroon.  
Contact: partnerships@lukmefcameroon.org |Tel/WhatsApp: +237 677 947 449