Care workers rights watch

The problem that arises is the existence of cases of violations of the rights of medical personnel. Indeed, they have recently noted the difficulties they face, including professional discrimination, non-payment of salary arrears, non-compliance with the texts in force concerning the exercise of their profession, administrative delays and corruption in the monitoring of career files, etc.. This situation is an infringement of their rights and does not value this profession. In addition, it should be noted that in our context, cases of denunciation of abuse are not very common because the people/victims are afraid of the consequences that their denunciations could have on their professional career and in their work environment. To compensate for this situation, there are few anonymous channels that can be used. The difficulties mentioned above are encountered by health personnel working at all levels of the health pyramid.

The solution we propose is to collect the opinions of health personnel and even users on the treatment of health personnel in health facilities. It is a question of monitoring and evaluating the respect of the rights of these personnel. To do this, a mobile application will be downloadable and will allow to inform in an anonymous way the violations of the rights of the health personnel. The information collected will be accessible to health personnel, users and decision-makers. The information collected will be the subject of advocacy actions to ensure that their rights are respected. Gender indicators will be collected and this data will also be used for advocacy purposes.  

The target population is health care workers, with a particular focus on women, who are sometimes victims of stereotypes. These medical personnel do not always have channels to speak freely and even anonymously about the abuses they face. In spite of all the efforts they make on a daily basis to help people recover their health, their rights are not always respected (non-payment of salary arrears, regulations, etc.). The solution we propose will allow them to denounce the abuses they suffer, and this application will be available for consultation by decision-makers and advocacy actions will be carried out in order to resolve the dysfunctions observed.

We are in the best position to provide this solution because we have been working for more than 20 years on health and human rights, which are our priority areas. To this end, we work in collaboration with communities, including health care personnel in 99 of Cameroon's 180 health districts in 10 regions, users and decision-makers. We are therefore very close to our target. In addition, the mobile application allows us to cover the target in a spontaneous and anonymous way. Health care personnel and users of health care facilities will therefore have the opportunity to inform about injustices observed in the hospital environment while protecting the victims. In the implementation of our activities, we regularly conduct observation/monitoring visits on access to health care and services. The information collected allows us to have data that we disseminate in order to inform health care actors at different levels of decision making. The information collected has also contributed to the definition of the indicators included in the application.

We are seeking financial support from SOLVE to implement this project. We would also like to have technical support for its implementation, if possible.

Our solution is innovative in the sense that in our context there is no application capable of providing information on the state of access to health care and services, and even less of collecting the opinion of the people who use it. The solution allows users to spontaneously report the respect of their rights in the exercise of their duties. In addition, the solution allows users to report spontaneously and in one click a malfunction observed by an alert system, all in anonymity. In addition, this application will enable other civil society organisations working in the health sector to advocate for gender mainstreaming and respect for the rights of health personnel thanks to the information collected.

Our objective is to cover the ten regions of the country, but also to intervene at the sub-regional level. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, the organisation has set up a community observatory for monitoring access to health care and services, which has already been implemented in other countries in the sub-region, such as CAR and the DRC. It is therefore a question of further extending our actions through the application to increase its use for better monitoring of access to care and respect for the rights of communities.

The impact will be measured by the number of people using the application in Cameroon and over time in the sub-region.

The project plans to conduct a KAP study that will provide an overview of the gender-related human rights of health workers. A survey report will be disseminated for this purpose. This study will also serve as a basis for any other organisation wishing to carry out advocacy work on behalf of health care personnel. In addition, monitoring reports on the respect of the rights of health care personnel will be disseminated and advocacy actions will be carried out in order to resolve the dysfunctions observed in the short and long term.  

Our solution is a combination of a mobile application and a web platform that allows for instantaneous information on malfunctions observed in health facilities. It allows users of health services and health care personnel to report their different points of view anonymously and according to their choice, either by giving their opinion or by making an alert. Users can specify the indicator to which their opinion relates. The application also allows users to interact with each other through an interactive chat mechanism. Users can also receive information on awareness-raising or targeted messages via notifications.  

In our organisation there are 2 men and 4 women who have equal opportunities and equal treatment.  Also, ethnic diversity is represented. The rights and duties are the same for everyone, regardless of their background, especially as our organisation works to promote human rights.

Nous intervenons dans un contexte où l’injustice sociale en matière de santé sévit avec acuité. Des personnes victimes de ces injustices souvent se résignent et abandonnent les soins dans les formations sanitaires et adoptent des voix parallèles au risque de leur vie. Cet abandon crée par ailleurs un manque à gagner au niveau de l’administration sanitaire. Dans ce contexte, nous assistons juridiquement les victimes de violation des droits humains en santé en leur permettant d’obtenir réparation. A travers des accompagnements juridiques et judiciaires, nous offrons essentiellement des services. Des personnes que nous accompagnons sont des victimes de violations des droits humains pour l’accès aux soins et services de santé. Pour cela, elles sont enregistrées à la suite des activités de sensibilisation et de multiples communications sur les outils de promotion et de protection des droits humains en santé. Les victimes sont ensuite confiées à un groupe d’avocat intervenant au sein de la clinique juridique. Ces derniers se charge de l’étude de cas qui leur est présenté et définissent ensuite l’action à entreprendre. L’action peut être judiciaire ou juridique.

To become financially sustainable, we apply for sustainable grants and also sell our services especially to organisations. However, as grants are mostly periodic, we are intensifying our multi-faceted outreach and communications activities to make our services known to a wider audience. 

We received funding from the European Union in 2015 which allowed us to set up a legal clinic with a group of lawyers and paralegals. This funding was for three (03) years. The objective of the funding was to contribute to the promotion of the rule of law in Cameroon through the popularisation of rights in the criminal and labour sectors for people who are vulnerable and at risk of HIV/AIDS. Over three years, the funding has made it possible to provide legal and judicial support to more than 250 people who have been victims of human rights violations in the health sector. These violations were observed in the workplace and in health facilities. The project strengthened the capacities of transporters' unions in Yaoundé (Central Region), Maroua (Far North Region) and Yokadouma (Eastern Region).