British Minister of State for Africa Lauds SHUMAS’ Strides In Sustainable Development
The British Minister of State for Africa, Harriet Baldwin has expressed satisfaction to endeavors made by Strategic Humanitarian Services, SHUMAS, Cameroon in fostering sustainable rural development and her fruitful partnership with United Kingdom Charities with whom SHUMAS has been working with over the years.
She made the appreciation on Wednesday February 14, 2018 in Sodiko, a locality in Douala IV sub division, Wouri Division of the Littoral Region of Cameroon while on a tour to do an appraisal of the impact of work of UK Charities who have been partnering with SHUMAS.
Accompanied by the British High Commissioner to Cameroon Rowan Laxton, the British Minister of State for Africa visited an ultra-modern laboratory with state of the art equipment worth over FCFA 35 million at Government Bilingual High School Sodiko which was realized and handed over by SHUMAS and Building Schools for Africa, a UK Charity that has partnered with SHUMAS over the years to build schools in Cameroon.
It is worth mentioning that SHUMAS has over the years worked in close partnership with UK Charities and NGOs such as Aid Camps International, Spreading health UK, Future in Our Hands, UK, Building Schools for Africa, amongst others with whom they have achieved life changing results.
Harriet Baldwin and Rowan Laxton were briefed by the Programs Coordinator of SHUMAS, Mme Nyuykighan Billian on the areas that SHUMAS intervenes in, the various UK Charities that SHUMAS works with and a brief balance sheet of results attained so far much to the satisfaction of the duo.
They were guided around the laboratory project of GBHS Sodiko by the Programs Coordinator of SHUMAS who explained the details of the project and the mode of implementation.
On site to welcome the British Minister of State for Africa and the British High Commissioner were the officials and students of GBHS Sodiko, the Chief of Sodiko, Elites, cross section of the Sodiko population and SHUMAS staff. Harriet Baldwin and Rowan Laxton also received gifts from the population handed over by the Chief of Sodiko.
SHUMAS is a Developmental Non-Governmental Organization that focuses on integrated sustainable rural development and aims to improve lives, reduce poverty, and empower people to meet their needs without compromising the needs of posterity.
The organization was legalized in 1997 as an association and subsequently as an NGO per the decision of the Ministry of Territorial Administration in the 2013. SHUMAS also holds a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2013.
SHUMAS activities cover the national territory of Cameroon and targets rural as well as urban poor communities. SHUMAS strongly believes on impacts of integrated development activities for communities, instead of isolated actions that might have no meaningful results.
To achieve this SHUMAS has eight interconnected axes of intervention namely; health, water and sanitation, social welfare, environmental protection and management, women empowerment, agriculture, volunteering and education.
In all these areas, SHUMAS works towards the achievement of the Cameroon Government’s Growth and Employment Strategy of making Cameroon an emerging country by 2035 through infrastructural and human development.
By Njodzefe Nestor
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