YAOUNDE – Cameroon’s Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Family, Marie-Thérèse Ondoa, on Tuesday urged other ministries to be involved in the search for solutions to improve the lives of widows.
Report says Cameroonian widows face difficulties of all kinds, including demand for between 15 and 18 documents to draw their pension.
“Cumbersome procedures in the event of foreclosure, conflicts arising from the settlement of pension rights and the sharing of property of spouse are also obstacles facing widows.
“We need to empower widows by facilitating access to land, health care, education, life free of violence and other inhuman treatments.
“These may give them ways to better take care of themselves after the period of mourning,’’ Ondoa said.
The International Widows Day is therefore an opportunity to act for the realisation and recognition of all the rights of widows which had been ignored for a long time.
The minister said the theme of this year, “Promoting and protecting widows: Our collective responsibility’’ was a called on stakeholders to implement a more holistic way to deal with problems of widows.
She called for the implementation of a formal, functional and institutional framework of exchanges for a comprehensive management of the problems facing widows. (PANA/NAN)
