Cameroon

Current EIIP Involvement

Integration of Employment Intensive Investment approach in the new public procurement code:
On June 18, 2018, the Cameroonian’s Government published the new Public Procurement Code in Cameroon, taking into account specific clauses related to Employment Intensive Investment (EII) approaches.
Several major innovations emerge from this new public procurement code, especially the introduction of the EII approaches into the construction of public infrastructures, whenever this is technically possible and economically profitable. This confirms the Government's public will to use the lever of public investment in infrastructure to boost employment and fight poverty.
This great achievement is the result of more than ten years of ILO‘s technical assistance to the Cameroonian government in order to take into account decent work issues, especially, the EII approaches. For that purpose, the ILO supported the carrying out of specific studies, the development of EII approach tender documents, the capacity building of local and national technical staff in terms of training seminars, organization of demonstration-site and the implementation of pilot projects in the infrastructure sector showing how the implementation of EII approaches can create more jobs and increase youth employability.

Concerning the assessment of jobs creation, since 2018, the ILO has developed with the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT), a specific tool to estimate the potential of jobs awaited for Public Investment Programmes. This Guide has been used by the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training (MINEFOP) to estimate the number of jobs expected from the 2019 Public Investment Budget (PIB). In addition, the guide has been used to estimate the expected jobs of the Priority Action Plan of the National Employment Policy (PAP PNE 2019-2021).

In addition, the ILO is currently involved in the technical committee puts in place by the Ministry of Economy and Planning in order to design a national guide for the implementation of the Employment Intensive Investment Methods.

During the current biennium (2018-2019), EIIP unit is providing technical support for the implementation of three programmes which are going to close in 2019.
A national training programme is currently running in collaboration with the Association of Local Councils and United Cities of Cameroon (CVUC) on Employment Intensive Investment approach: The program aims to train and sensitize about 160 mayors and technical members of local councils in Employment Intensive Investment approach, especially in the key outcomes of the new public procurement code and in the use of Employment Intensive Investment approach in the implementation and maintenance of local council infrastructures.

Creating more jobs and increasing youth employability through road construction.
In 2014, the Cameroonian government sought the technical support of the ILO to implement a project aiming to promote jobs creation and youth employability in the south west region in the case of construction of Kumba/Mamfe Road. For this project, the ILO’s strategy was to: (i) Develop the capacity of youth, SMEs and local councils to integrate employment intensive investment methods in the construction and maintenance of an agriculture road; (ii) Strengthen the capacity of local government in the management of road maintenance contracts; (iii) Train young people of the project intervention area EII approaches; (iv) Introduce alternative technological choices promoting the involvement of SMEs to public contracts and (v) Ensure the sustainability of interventions (post-construction-rehabilitation maintenance system). After the project termination, the ILO, in partnership with MINTP (Ministry of Public Works), conducted a study on the project's contribution to the attainments of SDGs.

By using Employment Intensive Investment approaches through trainings and demonstration site works, the project has been able to achieve significant results such as: (i) rehabilitation of 4 km of rural roads during which 15,714 man-days were created; 267 registered workers, including 203 men (76%) and 64 women (24%); XAF 22'180'252 of wages paid as salaries to the workers; 49 direct jobs 91 indirect jobs created; created and almost 91 indirect; (ii) 16 Rural Roads Committees (RRCs) identified, setting up and equipped with the relevant materials; (iii) more than 138 applicants received trainings in public works activities; (iv) 02 training centers reinforced.

By performing well on this project, ILO will be able to mobilize additional funds to implement new projects using the Employment Intensive Investment Methods given the high number of projects of road construction which is going to take place in Cameroon.

Supporting the dissemination of Employment Intensive Investment Approaches and Methods in infrastructure works in urban areas in Cameroon
With this project, the ILO is providing technical assistance to Cameroonian government in the use of Employment Intensive Investment Approaches and Methods in infrastructures in urban areas. This is done through the capacity-building of urban actors such as the officials of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the technical services of local and national administration, civil society organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises. With this project, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the ILO have been able to design a project document about the optimization of the potential of job creation in urban infrastructure works through the use of Employment Intensive Investment Approaches. The mobilization of funds is going on for the implementation of this project.

For the immediate future, the ILO has developed two new programmes which are expecting to start in 2020: 
One programme with the Public Works Ministry, which aimed to create decent jobs for youth through the use of Employment Intensive Investment approaches during the construction of the Ring Road in the North West region.

The second programme has been developed with the Ministry of Youth and Civics Education which aimed to ensure the moral rearmament and socio-professional insertion of young people by the creation of decent jobs through the valorization of rice value chains and the maintenance of rural infrastructures of the localities of POUSS, GUIRVIDIG and VELE.

Historical Information

In adopting the Declaration for the promotion of Employment Intensive Investment Approaches in June 2008, the Cameroonian Government wanted to provide practical leverage for jobs creation and to improve the access to market for agricultural production among its highest priorities in the fight against poverty and unemployment. The EII approach is also seen as an effective tool to support the implementation of its National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and its national employment policy in order to reduce unemployment and underemployment. In this context, the Government has taken several actions such as: (i) the creation of an EIIP Unit in charge of the promotion of employment using EII approaches in public investment has been integrated within the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT); (ii) The conditions for the use and application EII approaches were drawn up (Decree of the Prime Minister on 24 March 2014) for the introduction of this approach in public investment plans and programs, (iii) The terms and conditions governing the exercising of competence transferred by the State to the municipalities in respect of the carrying out of road-blocking works (Decree No. 2012/2334 / PM of 13 August 2012); (iv) Manual of procedures and guidelines for road maintenance have been developed formalizing processes relating to the sound administrative, financial management of road maintenance projects and the technical aspects of implementation and monitoring of these projects.

Since then, this objective of jobs creation through the use of EII techniques has been materialized through the execution of several projects:

The Pilot Project for the Maintenance of Rural Roads by the HIMO- (PERR-HIMO)
The Cameroonian Government initiated a pilot project for the maintenance of rural roads by the EII approaches in 2005. This progress came as a response to the new direction provided by the Government in 2003 with the approval of the implementation of the EII approaches to address the high costs of maintenance programs and the low impact on social indicators of rural maintenance and rehabilitation of rural infrastructure. The aim of this project is therefore to reduce road maintenance costs and to transform maintenance programs into opportunities for the promotion and creation of jobs for vulnerable groups through the use of EII approaches encouraging local employment and the use of local resources.

The Yaoundé Sanitation Project (PADY)
It was a project set up to clean up the Cameroonian capital and it was financed by the African Development Bank (20 billion CFA francs) and by the Cameroonian Government (2.3 billion CFA francs). The duration of the work was 5 years (2006-2010) .The objective was the reduction of poverty in urban areas by contributing to the sanitation of Yaounde city downtown. It was a question of creating jobs by applying EII approaches for road maintenance works, reducing water-borne diseases by treating the insalubrity of the riverside districts and beautifying the living environment of the populations. The work consisted in cleaning up underground collectors in the urban center of Yaounde and the recalibration of the canal of the Mfoundi River, which watered the city by creating a 4.4 kilometer canal with crossing structures and maintenance runways.

The Support Project for the Promotion of Employment and Poverty Reduction (APERP) phase 1, 2
The objective of this project was to improve the living conditions of populations through the implementation of decent work projects. In the short term, the project aimed to support the process of adoption of the EII strategy and its implementation, to contribute to the integration of employment in the formulation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP), to introduce into the public procurement code, provisions favorable to jobs creation. It was financed by the French Government. The first phase, which lasted three years, began in 2006 and was completed in 2009. The second phase, which lasted four years, began in 2011 and ended in 2014. In Cameroon, the main project’s activities consisted of: sensitizing the actors, training the actors through seminars and workshops for a better appropriation of the EII concept, organizing workshops for the experimentation of EII approaches.

The National Program for the Rehabilitation of Rural Roads (PN2R)
The program for the rehabilitation and construction of rural roads in Cameroon aimed to improve the accessibility of rural areas, reduce the cost of transport and stimulate local economic development. To this end, the programme contributed to the strengthening of infrastructures in rural areas by creating jobs and consolidating the national road maintenance strategy adopted by the Cameroonian government in March 2000. But due to financial constraints and organization constraints within the Ministry of Public Works, the project has been able to rehabilitate only around 15km. However, the works enabled the opening up of remote regions as well as production areas in order to make rural roads circulable all year round. As a result of the rehabilitation works, the Decentralized Territorial Communities succeeded to manage maintenance through partnership contracts with the Rural Road Committees (RRCs) created along the roads. This action led to the creation of permanent employment opportunities in rural areas and thus combat underemployment. In addition, the project succeeded to build the capacity of the different actors in EII approaches (the officials of the Ministry of Public Works, the technical services of decentralized territorial administrations, civil society organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises).