A cross-section of civil society organizations (CSOs) June 4-5, 2015, during the Open Day Forum for Civil Society Organizations organized at the Local government Training Centre (CEFAM) Buea, brainstormed on strategies to promote CSO and public/private partnership. The forum was aimed at assembling CSOs, corporate bodies and government agencies to brainstorm and come out with solutions relating to Corporate Social Responsibility. It was attended by CSOs from the Southwest, public and private companies, some mayors of the Southwest, the Southwest Governor’s representative and the representative of the Mayor of Bangante. Reach Out, being the organizer of the event, facilitated the understanding of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Jean Marc Bidjo, a consultant from Upstream Oil and Gas, talked on the theme “The gateway to community development”, while Flaubert Diateny from Relais Organization in the West Region; Zenu Network focused on the theme, “How can CSOs help to meet up with the needs of the communities?” and finally Roland Kwemain of Go Ahead Africa, dwelt on the importance of communication in organizational growth.

The presenters stressed the importance of sharing, sustainability, professionalism and communication in organizational growth.

The talks were moderated by Martin Tsounkeu of the African Development Interchange Network (ADIN). At the end of the session, the CSOs, corporate bodies, and government agencies concluded that all of them should do their work well as they partner for sustainability. Following this, CSOs’ responsibilities was outlined as follows; creating networks in Fako in the Southwest to attain a collective voice, find ways to bring out issues and raise them to public hearing through the media, think out of the box without breaking the laws, educate communities about companies’ policies and make them aware of their social responsibilities, as well as engage the communities concerned in all stages of their projects.

The CSOs would also team up with the government to educate corporate bodies on what Corporate Social Responsibility really is.

As far as Corporate Social Responsibility is concerned, the government was advised to avoid the policy of divide and rule. It should institute a law which would compel the corporate bodies to react to their Corporate Social Responsibility.

Meanwhile, corporate bodies should be responsible to social issues; they should carry out environmental impact assessments before embarking on any investment, sign contracts at the beginning of investments for fair trade.

The CSOs also agreed that donors want to see accountability, expertise and sustainability and an exit strategy.

Omam Ester, Director of Reach Out Cameroon, in her concluding remarks, said the forum was eventful and successful. She said the spirit of sharing should be one of the core values respected by CSOs.

By Payong Prudence