The Association for the Promotion of Women’s Rights and Peace Building (AP-WORP) recently concluded a series of bilateral consultations with 13 organisations working across human rights, justice, women’s rights, youth, community protection, psychosocial support and humanitarian response in Cameroon’s North-West Region.
The consultations, held from 28 August to 4 September 2026, examined gaps in survivor protection, referral systems, access to justice, accountability and coordination among actors.
The findings are expected to inform a high-level protection and accountability engagement scheduled for 24 September 2026, bringing together regional authorities, justice and security actors, government services, civil society, women leaders and international protection partners.
In this interview with Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices, AP-WORP Executive Director Munteh Florence discusses the major gaps identified during the consultations, the challenges survivors face after reporting violence, the role of women-led organisations in regional protection and security processes, and what AP-WORP expects from the upcoming high-level engagement.
Hilltopvoices: After consulting over 10 organisations working in human rights, justice, women’s rights, youth and protection, what were the most consistent gaps you heard about in the way GBV survivors were protected and supported in the North-West?
Munteh Florence: The strongest and most consistent message was that survivors are often left to navigate a fragmented system on their own.
Across the consultations, several gaps came up repeatedly. These included family and community interference in justice processes; the complete lack of safe spaces and shelters for survivors; cumbersome and costly judicial procedures; limited access to affordable services; inadequate numbers of trained professional counsellors; weak referral pathways that are often project-dependent rather than institutionalised; and weak coordination among actors.
We also heard concerns about the sustainability of services. Some mechanisms function when a particular project is being implemented, but become difficult to access when project funding ends.
For survivors, however, protection and justice cannot be dependent on the lifespan of a project.
Hilltopvoices: Survivors may report cases, receive initial assistance and still struggle to obtain justice. Where, in your assessment, did the response system break down most often, and what needed to change?
Munteh Florence: In my assessment, one of the biggest breakdowns occurs between reporting, protection, referral and access to justice.
A survivor may have the courage to report, receive some initial psychosocial or medical support, and still find herself facing family pressure, financial barriers, complicated procedures or inadequate follow-up.
At that point, the survivor can become exhausted and may withdraw from the process altogether.
So the issue is not simply whether a survivor can report a case. The real question is whether the system can stay with that survivor until she is safe, supported and able to pursue justice.
What needs to change is a more survivor-centred, coordinated and accountable protection pathway, where responsibilities are clear, referrals work across institutions, survivors can access safe accommodation and professional support, and cases do not disappear between one institution and another.
Hilltopvoices: The consultations involved organisations such as the Cameroon Human Rights Commission, Justice and Peace Service, WAA Cameroon, COMAGEND, YOUTHFORCE, CAGEAD, SWO, MOHCAM, .. What did AP-WORP hope to learn from bringing together perspectives from these different sectors?
Munteh Florence: We deliberately wanted to move beyond hearing only the perspective of organisations working directly on GBV.
The organisations consulted bring different but interconnected perspectives, from human rights and justice to women’s rights, youth, community protection and psychosocial support. The purpose was to understand where these systems intersect and, importantly, where they fail to connect.
For AP-WORP, the consultations were therefore not simply about identifying problems. We wanted to understand what each actor sees from their position, what prevents effective action, and what practical changes could be made collectively at regional level.
The consultations have helped us see that GBV protection cannot be solved by one organisation or one sector. It requires a functioning protection ecosystem.
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Hilltopvoices: Women-led organisations and frontline responders often have direct knowledge of protection risks in communities. How should their experience be incorporated into regional protection and security decision-making without compromising confidentiality or legitimate security concerns?
Munteh Florence: Women-led and frontline organisations should be treated as credible protection actors and sources of early warning, rather than only as implementing partners.
They are often closest to survivors and communities and can identify emerging risks, patterns of violence, barriers to reporting and gaps in protection much earlier than formal systems may.
But this information must be shared responsibly. We need mechanisms that allow frontline organisations to communicate patterns, trends and protection concerns without exposing survivors, compromising confidentiality or putting communities at greater risk.
This means establishing trusted channels for information-sharing, clear confidentiality protocols and regular structured engagement between civil society, protection actors, justice institutions and security authorities.
Security and confidentiality should not be viewed as competing interests. With the right protocols, both can be protected.
Hilltopvoices: You are planning a high-level protection and accountability engagement on Thursday 24 September 2026. What three or four concrete actions do you want regional authorities, justice and security actors, civil society and protection partners to commit to, and how will AP-WORP ensure those commitments are followed up?
Munteh Florence: We want the meeting to go beyond speeches and produce practical, measurable commitments.
We would like to see, among others, a strengthened and institutionalised referral and coordination mechanism linking civil society, health, psychosocial, justice, protection and security actors, with clear roles and follow-up responsibilities.
We also want concrete measures for survivor protection and safe accommodation, including exploring safe spaces and emergency shelter arrangements for survivors who cannot safely return home.
There is also a need to improve access to justice, including identifying and reducing procedural, financial and institutional barriers that discourage survivors from pursuing cases, while strengthening survivor-centred case follow-up.
We would also like to see a structured mechanism for regular dialogue and accountability through which women-led organisations and other frontline actors can safely raise emerging protection concerns and track agreed actions.
AP-WORP does not want the 24 September engagement to end with commitments that remain on paper. We intend to document the agreed actions, identify responsible actors and timelines, and establish a follow-up process with relevant stakeholders.
Our role will be to continue convening, documenting progress and drawing attention to gaps that remain unresolved.
Hilltopvoices: What else would you want stakeholders and the public to understand about the consultations?
Munteh Florence: Perhaps the most important thing I would say is that the consultations have changed the conversation for us.
We went into the process wanting to understand the protection and accountability gaps, but we came out with a much clearer picture of how interconnected those gaps are.
The absence of safe spaces, for example, is not simply a shelter problem. It affects whether a survivor can safely leave an abusive situation, access psychosocial support, cooperate with justice processes and rebuild her life.
Similarly, weak referral systems are not simply an organisational problem. They can directly affect a survivor’s safety and access to justice.
The consultations also reinforced something AP-WORP has always believed: survivors should not have to carry the burden of navigating a fragmented response system. The system should be designed around their safety, dignity and rights.
That is why we see the High-Level Engagement not as the end of the consultation, but as the beginning of a more coordinated regional effort to strengthen protection and accountability for survivors of GBV in the North-West Region.
Interview conducted by Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Web.
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