NAYD CAMEROON Makes a Giant Step Ahead Shaping its Future
On the 30th of June 2007 at the “HEALTH FOR ALL FOUNDATION” premises in Buea, South west Province of Cameroon, NAYD Cameroon held its very first meeting. This meeting although onerous was successful as a number of giant steps and decision that will guide the future of the organisation positively were reached at. This meeting witnessed the presence and active participation of the following member organisations of NAYD Cameroon; ICCHRA-CAMEROON, BAPESU, MAYA INITIATIVES, AHURTOD, POSSCUB, CACEPED INTERNATIONAL, GREENPLANET CIG, YECEDAT CIG, GOAHEAD and PAID-WA. Both the country coordinator for NAYD Cameroon Chi Primus and CEO of NAYD.

Some of the major resolutions attained at were:
- Candidates vying for any post of Responsibility in NAYD Cameroon Office must be 70% active in attendance of meetings.
- Those present at the first meeting were considered as founding members.
- Each youth member association will be represented maximally by one person and one vote in general assembly.
- NAYD Cameroon will create Honorary Membership. These honorary members will include public gurus, celebrities, and successful people in various walks of life/role models. NAYD-Cameroon will use these persons to hinge for support in fundraising and promoting its image

NAYD Cameroon will be registered in Yaoundé and its head office shall be Yaoundé the political capital of Cameroon - Some priority programs will be put in place since the network is still at the incipient stage of existence and subsumes capacity building programs on leadership, group organigram, structuring, organizational development, and grant writing - Some thematic areas of intervention or department were set to take charge of respective projects as they apply. These department are namely: Health & HIV/AIDS, Governance and Human rights, Environment and Nature conservation, Education, Communication and Information Technology (ICT) - A project bank will be set up whereby projects will be taken and submitted for sponsoring when the opportunity arises.

A robust bureau to lead the activities of the organisation for the next two years was set up through transparent voting and the outcome gave the post of responsibility to CHI Primus as Country Coordinator, Dr. Walters SAMAH as Administrative Officer, SHEY Aloysius as Program Officer, NKEM Bellami as Finance Officer, Raoul NTCHANKOUNTE as Treasurer, Christian PHUEBONG TABIFOR as Communication and Public Relations Officer. Provincial Coordinators will be put in place on rolling basis. Talks during the meeting also centred on the Formation of a Cameroon Youth Parliament as a means to lobby and foster youth problems. The conference participants had the opportunity to receive brief but very informative and vital talk from Pochi TAMBA (MAYA Initiatives) on the imperative elements to consider when setting up a project (SWOT: S=Strength, W=Weaknesses, O=Opportunities, T=Threats). Dr. Walters SAMAH (CAPED International) presented a paper on the situation of Civil Society Organizations in Cameroon which depicts it as with enormous conundrums which include inconsistence, inactive, lack of credibility, lack of volunteerism spirit. NAYD CAMEROON defined an action plan for 2007 in terms of priorities and subsumes: the establishment of final copy of NAYD Cameroon Constitution, the legalization/registration of NAYD Cameroon, the making of Internal Rules and Regulations, the establishment of a bank account with any reputable bank with Country Coordinator, Finance Officer, and Treasurer as mandated co-signatories, the establishment of a Board of Directors (selection criteria, short listed candidates, executive meeting for selection, and nomination letters) and the setting up of an Office Space in Yaoundé. At the end of the meeting the Coordinator goaded everyone in the team and NAYD Cameroon family to work unceasingly, unreservedly, unselfishly and with dire passion to achieve success.

Pioneer Members of NAYD Cameroon Bureau:

Chi Primus Country Coordinator: Presides meetings, takes charge of the day-to-day operation and management of the network.; chief liaison officer and principal spokesman of the network; collaborate with other organizations in formulating, encouraging and promoting policies, programmes, and activities; ensure the proper execution of the action plans and the budget; enforce the implementation of the constitution, and rules and regulations of the network; provide direction and leadership through service to other members and be a co-signatory of the bank account(s) of the network; performs other duties assigned by the GA, BODs and Regional and International Offices of NAYD.

Dr. Walters SAMA Administrative Officer: Coordinates the recruitment of members into the network and keeps an up-to-datelist of such members; records and keep minutes including attendance and summary of all decisions taken during any meeting; He in consultation with the country coordinator writes and dispatches circulars, letters and other correspondences of the network and keeps a record of such correspondences; assumes the role of the country coordinator in his/her absence and performs any other duties assigned by the country coordinator and the GA.

Christian P. TABIFOR Communication and Public Relations Officer: Is the principal advertising and marketing manager of the network. He prepares and presents all publicity gadgets/materials for the network. He in consultation with the EC prepares and sanctions the materials required for posting on the NAYD website. He is the principal liaison officer between the network and the NAYD webmaster. He coordinates the activities of any editorial committee/publications of the network. Regularly updates the NAYD INTERNATIONAL Communication/Public Relations Officer on country office activities/events for publication on the NAYD website and newsletter. Performs other duties assigned by the country coordinator and GA.

NKEM Bellami Finance Officer: Serves as the overall financial manager to the entire network’s projects; keeps clear and accurate financial reports/accounts of all receipts and disbursements of the network and make them available upon request to the appropriate authorities; draws up annual financial reports on income and expenditure accounts of the network; prepares payment vouchers of all financial transactions before disbursement and be a co-signatory to the network’s bank account(s).

Raoul NTCHANKOUNTE Treasurer: Chief custodians of all funds belonging to the network, which shall be secured in any financial institution designated by the General Assembly (GA); receives and disburses in accordance with the EC all funds belonging to the network; a co-signatory to the network’s bank account(s), alongside the country coordinator and finance officer.

SHEY Aloysius Programme Officer: Serves as the overall manager of all network projects. Coordinate the capacity building of member associations, through the conception and organization of workshops, seminars and conferences; maintains accurate and up-to-date inventory of all furniture, equipment/property of the network; supervises all employees of the network, promptly report to the EC vacancies and recommend suitable persons to fill such vacancies; submits monthly reports on country projects to the Project Director of NAYD ITERNATIONAL; coordinates the activities of the various divisions of the network and perform any other duties assigned by the country coordinator and GA.