25 midwives have graduated from the school of Midwifery in Garoua, chief town of Cameroon's North Region this October 27, 2022. This was at a graduation ceremony chaired by the Secretary-General at the North Governor's Office Mr. Avom Dang. The school was founded 9 years ago, alongside 3 others across the country, following an advocacy carried out by UNFPA for the Government of Cameroon to reopen the training cycle of midwives in the country's training programme for health providers. The aim was to address the gap in midwives in Cameroon that stood at 1, 146 then. This, among other factors, accounted for the high mortality rate in the country.
UNFPA is providing multiple support to the school in terms of logistics and technical assistance as well as the award of scholarships to learners. This was acknowledged by the presiding officer at the ceremony, Mr. Avom according to whom "UNFPA is indeed a strategic partner for the Government of Cameroon in the effort to end preventable maternal deaths". Speaking earlier on behalf her batch mates, Ms. Perpetue Beyene expressed their "eagerness to go out and save lives, namely women in the course of delivery. And this is thanks to the quality training and support provided them throughout".
Worthy of note is that UNFPA and the Government of Cameroon have begun this year a new Programme of Cooperation that runs till 2026. Within the framework of this Programme Cycle, UNFPA's Compact of Commitment is to support the Government in increasing at least by 10% the number of deliveries assisted by health professionals in order to significantly reduce the number of preventable maternal deaths. This is in line with the target N°1 of the the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and UNFPA 2022-2025 Strategic Plan at the global level.
