Entrepreneurial Capacitation

There are various abuses of human rights in terms of deprivation of fundamental freedoms including child labor, trafficking for sex workers, child sex workers, domestic servitude and even trafficking for human parts.   Children's rights including the right to health, education, family life, play and recreation, an adequate standard of living have been greatly hampered. This phenomenon is rampant in the North West Region of Cameroon due to a ravaging devastating armed conflict which has been going on for close to eight years. It is a sociopolitical problem commonly referred to as the Cameroon Anglophone problem. This has caused the living conditions of most families to deteriorate. Many families have been displaced especially from the smaller towns and rural communities to towns like Bamenda, Wum and other in the NW Region and beyond.. Persons migrating from the villages find it difficult to adapt and survive in town;  those who bear the brunt are children and women. This is where some people have come in to exploit the situation to their advantage to the detriment of the victims.

By our estimates about 0.01 percent of our population may be victims of some form of contemporary slavery. This hypotheses needs to be confirmed with a research, however we identified 400 victims of slavery, given that resources are most often not adequate to satisfy every need, the available resources can be well utilized by carefully estimating and choosing those who are most in need. We have been able to offer some form of services to 180 survivors by way of rescuing some of the survivors, counseling, therapy and reinsertion and these can be sustainable if the survivors are empowered with some skills that can make them economically independent.

The Cameroon law in the penal code legislate as follows; Article 293. States; “Whoever enslaves any person or keeps him in slavery shall be punished with imprisonment as from 10 (ten) to 20 (twenty) years.” Cameroon is also signatory to several international convention and instruments. The government alone cannot fight this phenomenon without the aid of CSOs and NGOs. Unfortunately there are not many CSOs interventions in this area in the N.W. Region and the few that are working on trafficking and slavery don’t have adequate professional skills. This is where STRATAS’ role become primordial. There are many services that STRATAS could offer to alleviate the situation including, training of survivors with vocational and entrepreneurial skills, assisting victims to seek justice for their infringed rights. This can happen and many more survivors will be helped if STRATAS is given the means to set up a vocational training center. It should be noted that daily, people get missing, unaccounted for. Some of them trafficked to harvest body organs and parts. In mid-January 2024 some of this traffickers fell into police drag net red hand.

My NGO STRATAS has been able to carry out some activities to provide solutions in response to this phenomenon. We have so far been able to retrieve some of this victims from their abusers.

My solution is having to do with transfer of income generating skills through  vocational education and empowerment with entrepreneurial skills to survivors of contemporary modern slavery. Survivors have different and varying needs. A survivor will be assisted to identify his or her needs and priorities in a guided process. They will choose trades which they have passion for and can have the ability to pursue. This will be after the general orientation of the survivors which involve counseling sensitization and educative information that will enable the survivors to make informed choices and decisions; this means that in the case of vocational training, a victim will not be imposed a particular trade to learn. It should be noted that some of the survivors are children that are minors who were separated from school at the primary level, there is no doubt that their priorities will be education as enshrine in human Rights and children’s right.

We want to set up a vocational training center where survivors will be trained. This center should have two departments. The department of ICT, and the department of entrepreneurship where survivors will be trained on the following skills: 1. Computer science,   2. Fashion designing, 3. Talent development, 4. Cookery and 5. Agricultural entrepreneurship.

This center will facilitate the economic empowerment of survivors with on different skills mentioned above that will enable their economic independent.

The main Goal: Is to reduce the gap of inequality among survivors and those vulnerable to trafficking or re-trafficking especially from among the rural municipalities in N.W Region of Cameroon especially Menchum Division which is one of the main hubs of trafficking, through economic empowerment with entrepreneurial skills, managerial skills, group dynamics with the resulting effect of improved economic productivity and food security through food processing to reduce waste and add value. We intend to complement the activities with access to social services and information that will lead to improved living standards and for women and youths, LGBTQI, and other marginalized and discriminated groups to benefit from the 4 aspects of the program namely 1) prioritizing safety and dignity, 2) arranging for meaningful access of women and girls and other vulnerable groups to economic empowerment  related services and information 3) setting up associations of survivors to foster accountability mechanisms, and 4) supporting women’s and girls’  and  other participation in the advocacy on their rights as well as to empower them on leadership and management.

The project will benefit rural women, girls, children, and people with disability, indigenous people and LGBTQI+ communities in the four council areas of Zhoa, Wum, Mezam and Tubah Councils.  It targets 265 direct beneficiaries; 5 organizations and 5000 people as indirect beneficiaries.

The survivors most of the times face the risk of re-trafficking or falling back into one of the aspects of slavery like force marriage, forced labor, trafficking for sex exploitation etc. This particular risk will be mitigated through economic empowerment with the training on vocational and entrepreneurial skills. This survivors and their guardians run the risk of exploitation from staff and volunteers that may be assigned to render services to them.   STRATAS organization has a number of internal measures and tools that document the roles of her staff and volunteers.  All staff and volunteers must sign an MOU to STRATAS ethical code and deontology which states among other things that

• STRATAS staff, volunteers and associates must ensure they protect our clients from abuse and harm. Especially minors bellow 18 years and vulnerable persons and there shall be background checks for staff to ensure this
• STRATAS will provide/require training on SEAH to staff/volunteers, both at induction and refresher training on an ongoing basis e.g at least every three of years
• STRATAS staff, volunteers and associates must ensure and respect professional secrecy of their client during counseling and care.
• STRATAS staff, volunteers and associates must desist from any form of sexual harassment to clients and members of staff
• STRATAS staff, volunteers and associates must desist from sexual exploitation, taking advantage of the vulnerability nature of clients or those seeking assistance or services of any kind.
• STRATAS staff, volunteers and associates must not be engaged in activities that insight or support violence.

PSEA investigation policy and procedure. We also have a self-evaluation checklist for PSEA for all new recruits or volunteers. We also have administrative and financial set of roles or algorithms to follow when carrying any administrative or financial transaction to minimize the risk of misuse of finances and power. 

Perpetrators of crime will always want to fight back those who are fighting crime and this could be a risk factor, an example could be families that are keeping domestic servitude, there could be agitation and resistance in letting go of such victims identified in their keeping and may always look for ways to recapture their victims. The mitigation measure will be to engage legal action in such situations with the help of layers.   Over publicity will not be made concerning the project like in TV and radio. Some sex worker haven developed their job as a habit may have the tendency to go back. Mentoring and follow up will be an appropriate solution.

We have a host of survivors of slavery stemming from child labor, forced marriage, domestic servitude and sex slavery that we have identified using an inclusive procedure that takes into consideration, children, women, LGBTQI community, persons with disabilities and indigenous people.  These are persons that, due to their vulnerability they fall prey to all types of exploitation and in spite of that they are stigmatized and discriminated upon. My project has as objective to incapacitate this group of persons with transferable skills that will imbued them with income entrepreneurial capacities that will give them financial independence and reduce their vulnerability to exploitation. The solution will provide safe space were these persons can learn and develop their skills and potential, a place where they feel free and accepted and realize their self-worth and build their assertiveness and self-confidence. This potentials will enable them to make incomes for themselves thereby leading to improved living standards.

They will choose trades which they have the ability to pursue after counseling so they can make informed choices. For children that are minors who were separated from school at the primary level that is children below 13 years, there is no doubt that their priorities will be education as enshrine in human Rights and children’s right. These children will be enrolled in government primary schools or community schools because this schools are cheaper. It will make sense to send the victims in government or community schools so that the assistance can reach more children except in extreme rare cases that some children in private schools can receive some assistance. For those who will be enrolled for vocational training, they will undertake courses that can be completed between three months and one year. Activities will include, IT in basic computers, dress making, beauty and make up, barbing saloon, soaps and detergents, cookery accompanied by language, mathematics and communication skills.

Many victims of slavery have psychological problems and traumas ranging from depression, Self-denial, Low Self-esteem etc. In this way they carry a stigma, self-stigmatization and community stigmatization, in this way they face barriers to basic social services. However some of them have already undergone psychological therapy and are still being followed up. Besides there are still some survivors that will be enrolled since the phenomenon is yet to be over, and these has to begin with basic rehabilitation procedures including counseling, therapy, medical checks etc. This solution will greatly address the needs of the survivors firstly because they would have undergone therapy and counseling that will enable them regain their mental and psychological sanity as well as their self-esteem. Secondly it will address their needs in that they will be the ones to choose the kind of trade which is most appealing to them and within their capabilities. Thirdly it will address their needs because it will give them economic empowerment and independence and improve their livelihoods. They will be able to put food on their table, take care of their medical bills and send their children to school.

I and my team have been present on the ground in the North West Region of Cameroon right into the hinterlands like Menchum Division which is a fertile ground for trafficking for various reasons including sex slavery, forced labor, child labor, forced marriage etc.  Before now we have been carrying out some activities in relation to health and social well-being, one of which was the fight against child trafficking for the past years. It is through our presence at the grassroots that we got the understanding of the full scale of what is going on. We are right inside the communities and part of the community, in this way we are not just coming in to solve community problems; the community problems are also our problems. Our members come from the communities that we serve, they speak the local parlance, understand their culture, aware of the taboos and barriers. We have a good interaction with the communities and we implore a procedure of problem analyses that involve the communities. Our project therefore reflect their sentiments and aspirations. STRATAS is a well-structured and organized entity. It is a registered and recognized CSO that has registered its credibility in the communities, it is therefore accepted and trusted in the communities and has been representing the communities in many aspects and even advocating for their rights. It is worthy of note that STRATAS is not venturing into this program only now, we have been into this and has made research and come out with strategies to best handle this complex situation. We are therefore better placed because we know the terrine, we know the people, and we know the culture among others. More so we have already carry out some work like identification of survivors and vulnerable groups susceptible to trafficking and slavery and have carried out counseling and therapy and need to continue from where we have ended. If it is another group they will need to start from crash and that will not be cost effective.

The North West Region of Cameroon is a conflict area characterized by violent armed confrontations between non state armed groups and security forces with a lot of collateral damages on civilians especially women and children and this is one of the reasons why trafficking and slavery is endemic due to the conflict. Due to insecurity many people and organizations cannot successfully operate in the North West Region of Cameroon. We are conversant with the terrine and have adapted a humanitarian response approach, and we live and function in the communities in the context of the crises as part of the community, trying to contribute our quota to the welfare of persons and alleviate the suffering of the most affected. There is therefore no doubt and you will agree with me that we are best suited to carry out this project.    

We have been doing some work and carrying out some activities in this project.  We have already carried out identification of survivors and vulnerable groups susceptible to trafficking and slavery, we have help to rescue and retrieve survivors in the likes of house servitude, child force labor, child sex slaves, forced marriage amongst others and have carried out counseling and therapy and we are continuing with follow up and rehabilitation and reinsertion of the said survivors. Some of the survivors that we identify especially of trafficking most of the time manage to escape by themselves. We have intercepted victims of trafficking en rout to the cities from the hinterlands and rescued them. We have received complains from parents and or guardians about their children who were lured away with promise of better living in the city only to latter subject the child to servitude. In such cases we carry out rescue missions and there are a number of such that we have retrieved. So far we have reach out to 275 survivors .

It is because we have carried out some essential preliminary activities like retrieving survivors of servitude, sex slavery, forced marriage, forced labour and child sex slavery and have offered services like counseling, psychological therapy, rehabilitation and medical assistance; we face technical and cultural challenges whereby the survivors still faces the risk of re trafficking, low self-esteem, poor living conditions due to lack of vocational skills.  We hope that the challenge will help us set up a vocational training center that will help build the capacities of the survivors with entrepreneurial and vocational skills that will make them self-reliant and improve their standard of living. We hope that if selected the funds will take the project to another level. We have been working at preliminary level of the project and thank God for volunteerism which has pushed the work to this level, it should be noted that member have over stretched themselves with volunteerism. The next level is very critical and require funding. It is critical because we have already rescue some survivors and identify some who by some means manage to escape and given the initial work that we have done it will not be good for them to fall prey to the same situation in which they have come out. If we get the funding it will increase our output, the outcome and impact of the project. If we receive funding it will help our project to be sustainable in that the vocational training center that we will open will also serve other members of the community who will have to pay tuition that will help to boost the activities of the organization.

It is an unprecedented hybrid project that will offer a holistic development of the survivors that will involve their mental, emotional and psychological wellbeing as well as vocational capabilities that will enhance their financial security. It is a people centered project that respect the human rights and freedoms of the individual survivors. These will involve the development of a combination of knowledge in the head and skills in the hands. The innovation involves the use of AI which will enable the survivors to further develop their ability in continuous learning online, facilitated by AI. They will be thought all the necessary precautions and the ethics in dealing with AI ensuring the protection of personal and third party data. The innovations in our solution also include the involvement of our beneficiaries in the designing of the solutions. It should be noted that persons deprived of their liberty into slavery are often regarded as people who cannot take decisions on their own and will tend to decide for them without the survivors’ input. Our innovation involves the survivors and their guardians, deciding on their fate on how they think their situation can be improved upon. This makes the stake holders to be engaging and makes it easier to for a project objectives to be achieved. In this way the sustainability of the project will be guaranteed.

Our programs are focused on change, behavioral change; If there is open dialogue among civil society actors, the government, partners and the communities they serve, and if there is increased participation of women, youth, LGBTQI+ persons, and other marginalized groups in decision making processes, and the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, there will be effective change that will reduce or wipe out the phenomenon of modern slavery.

We believe that meaningful impact can only be effected if there is change. The most important change we focus on is the change of attitude. People are so accustom to their old ways that they find it difficult to change and adapt to new ways, meanwhile change is the only constant thing in life. Change of attitude is a vehicle of many other changes in life which include the improvement of standards of living, improvement of Human Rights condition and good governance. Change can be effected if people understand why they have to change and are convinced that there is need for change, then they will change.

Project Logic Model

INTERVENTION GOALS

Ensure effective rehabilitation and re-insertion of survivors of slavery in the communities as independent and self-reliant individuals

INTERVENTION LOGIC

OBJECTIVELY VERIFIABLE INDICATORS

MEANS OF VERIFICATION

ASSUMPTIONS/RISKS

To empower survivors groups of women, youths, people with disability, LGBTQI, IDPs and indigenous people

In all 260 persons from the various groups trained

Attendance sheets, training reports

Perpetrators of crime will always want to fight back those who are fighting crime and this could be a risk factor. To mitigate the services of legal counsels will be employed.

To carry out identification and prioritization of the needs of survivors

Individual files of survivors clearly showing their needs

STRATAS filling and archiving office system

Some survivors may express wants as needs which may lead to inappropriate orientation. To mitigate, proper counseling, assessment and prioritization will be done

To set up a state of the art vocational education and training center

Functional equipped classes with practical learning facilities

Identifiable venue, staff and students

Some survivors may want to switch to another trade for one reason or the other. Mitigation proper orientation and guidance counseling

To ensure the effective transfer of vocational skills and holistic empowerment

Effective and appropriate curriculum development

Progress reports and products of the students

Some survivors may want other complex training. There will be a list of most essential skill according to market demands to choose from

The overall impact Goal is to reestablish the independent, dignity, and improve the living conditions, mental health status, psychological and emotional well-being of survivors of modern slavery.

Objectives:

• To empower 260 survivors with transferable entrepreneurial and vocational skills of survivors of slavery stemming from child labor, forced marriage, domestic servitude and sex slavery that we have identified using an inclusive procedure that takes into consideration, children, women, LGBTQI community, persons with disabilities and indigenous people.
• To specifically enroll into vocational training; 50 survivors of forced marriage, 30 girls survivors of sex slavery, 45 male youths of forced labor, 45 LGBTQ+ from any of the above abuses, 45 IDPs of both sexes of any of the above abuses, 25 persons of both sexes living with disabilities and 20 indigenous people.
• To enhance the skills of the trainees on communication, language (English), mathematics and Human Rights and live skills
• To continue the follow up of mental, psychological and emotional status of survivors, rehabilitation and reinsertion through counseling and psychological therapy.

Our focus is not just on the activities that will be carried out but the transformational impact these will have on the survivors and the communities. With this empowerment survivors will set up their own businesses and many more families will be impacted because they in turn will be able to transfer skills. They will set up networks of CBOs community based organizations to advocate for their rights and the communities will be more proactive fighting against this phenomenon. Over 20000 people will be indirectly impacted in 15 communities.

We will employ a facets of technological approaches in other to effect the transfer of knowledge and skills. We are in a technological age, and individual can only thrive if they are able to take advantage of the opportunities that technology gives us. Technology also facilitate work, learning and service delivery, saving time and energy. Our technology will involve the use of apps, SMS technology, software and AI and virtual realities. Simple technical apps will be used to support the learners efforts like You Tube, Duolingo, Khan Academy among others. we will introduce apps that can facilitate individualized and customized learning, so that students can focus on topics matter most to them, in this way they will spare the burden of being overwhelmed by large volume of content. Since learning is continuous this will enable them to continue to upgrade the knowledge through research after graduation. They will also be thought how to use mobile apps to enhance their customer experience. Apps and SMS are a vital way of enhancing customer experience. Software are inevitable in learning and in our daily life functioning given that we use application programs and application software that enables us to perform specific task. They will learn system software and application software, like Microsoft soft wares, data protection through anti-viruses etc. Artificial intelligence I is transforming how we live and work. They will be thought how to use AI beginning from simple practical ways like virtual personal assistance, email filtering, Chabot and customer service, language translation, navigation and maps. Environmental protection is a technology that mustn’t escape our minds. Practical methods of managing waste, using agriculture to mitigate climate change are essential and phenomenal in our modern day interactions.

We have 21 full time staff, 17 volunteers and 3 contractors

We have been working on our solution for 5 years, meanwhile before then we have been on the field carrying out other project including the fight against child trafficking.

Our organization is yet to develop and append a Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Statement but we have a number instruments that guide staff to ensure Equity, Diversity and Inclusive as stated in such documents as would be found in our ethical code and deontology, PSEA prevention and investigation policy and in our financial and administrative role, procurement policy.

We ensure that our team is diverse by making sure that the various components of our activities and or projects are inclusive and accessible enough without any form of barriers such as gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, tribe or any other status, with emphases on non-discrimination, non-stigmatization and non-judgmental, as well as non-criminalization.

All the activities of our projects and programs have someone responsible for that particular component or activity. Our staff are oriented to understand the mundus operandi of our organization and are welcome to bring their expertise in the different domains of our programs. They are given the opportunity for regular internal refresher causes and are made to understand that they have the right to further their education as they will. Staff are made to understand that we work as a team yet the individual staff members have to be respected and given the free hand to exercise their expertise within the context of the organizations norms and roles and also within the context of our programs and projects. Staff have job descriptions and senior staff are expected to give clear directives to junior staff support, guide and supervise them appropriately. We monitor the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of all the staff and render the necessary assistance where need be.

Our business model is vocational, holistic and inclusive aimed at transferring vocational skills in a holistic approach, targeting the vulnerable, discriminated and stigmatized like IDPs, Rural poor, indigenous people and LGBTQ+ community most of whom are survivors of contemporary slavery. The model is people centered, ensuring the respect of human rights, equity and the promotion of good practices and the prevention of exploitation, none tolerance to sexual, exploitation and harassment. Initially survivors of slavery are the key targets, however other vulnerable persons as mentioned above will be admitted in the center with the sole aim of enabling the less privilege to have a source of income and reduce the gap of inequality in fulfillment of the following sustainable development goals;  Goal 1: No Poverty: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Goal 2: Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture and Goal 4: Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Goal 5: Gender Equality: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Our services are having to do with knowledge transfer and creating a safe environment for learning and personal development. These trainees in turn become useful to themselves and to society. Our services are tailored to meet the needs of the job market by way of services or products. Our clients need these services because it give them a means of employment and ability to be productive and self-fulfilling. It enables them put food on their table, send their children to school and foot their medical and other bills.

Our plan has been to create a business model in the form of a vocational education complex with four main components namely 1. The Division of Computer and Information Technology, 2. The Division of fashion design, 3. The Division of Agro Entrepreneurship and 4. The Division of Talent Development. It is hoped that this unprecedented, hybrid innovation can be a revolutionary turnaround for our organization and for the community that we serve. First of all we will focus more on the development of practical skills and abilities that can directly create wealth. We have a vision of growing this model to evolve and include an E-learning component where students can receive tuition online and come in for practical sessions on campus. We have so far been able to orient some survivors and vulnerable persons to identify the type of trade they will like to learn and it is proven that there are quite a number of prospective students who are interested in the above mentioned training components. This particular innovation is very promising and we are confident that the fund raising strategies that we are going to put up will certainly bear fruits. We are currently in contact with UN trust fund for contemporary slavery soliciting for grants on a component of this project to the tune of USD 56,400. Our aim is to make best of any funds that any donor will award us. We think that if a component of the UN can award us a project and we in turn demonstrate maturity, good governance, transparency and cost effective management of any funding that may come our way in way that the UN agency will be satisfied with and approve of our work, this will pave the way for other donors. And we are very much poise to take advantage of any opportunity given to us in the way of funding of our challenge. Nevertheless if you will consider our application for funding it will set a good stage for our challenge. When this project goes functional it will help raise investment capital for our projects. Also once this project goes operational it will be registered with the Ministry of small and medium size enterprises and Vocational training for eventual funding.

We will also come up with other revenue models like the Subscription model; this will be for our publications and online services. Online services will include those who want to undertake short causes online or any other technical service. We will also offer Affiliate revenue model since we offer training causes we will be able to refer student to other institutions on a commission if they want to pursue higher studies or those who opt for causes that we do not offer. This will also go for companies that will want us to train their staff or upgrade the capacities of their staff through our courses platform.