Local partners are mobilising more than ever during lockdown

CoM SSA is working with a local partner in Cameroon, contributing to turn political commitments to fight against climate change into concrete action.

Municipalities across Cameroon are particularly committed to the fight against climate change, as indicated by the significant number of Cameroonian signatories to the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) for Climate and Energy. Resolute to contribute and turn these commitments into concrete action, Help Community, a Cameroonian NGO, participated in an online technical training hosted by CoM SSA partners GIZ with ICLEI Africa, to enhance the NGO’s capacity to support many signatories across the country to develop their Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plans (SEACAPs).

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted African countries considerably. This is no different in Cameroon, which means that CoM SSA’s technical team had to find alternative solutions to provide continued support to CoM SSA signatories to develop their SEACAPs. CoM SSA an initiative co-funded by the European Union and German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has over 80 signatory cities in Cameroon.  These cities have committed to ambitious climate and energy actions. Local partnerships and capacity are necessary to turn these commitments into action. CoM SSA partner GIZ, with assistance from ICLEI Africa, is closely collaborating with the local NGO, Help Community, to support Cameroonian cities in the SEACAP process.

Initially intended to be an in-person event, the technical training sessions developed for Help Community were moved online via a series of four interactive webinars, compelling Help Community and trainers from ICLEI Africa to adapt to the new constraints.

Photo caption: some of the participants in the webinar training session

Adaptation, one of the climate action pillars, was itself at the centre of the first training session, followed by two sessions on mitigation and access to sustainable energy. The training sessions were adjusted according to Help Community’s needs. These were established at the end of 2019 during a meeting aimed at defining the SEACAP development stages and designing training on data collection and processing tools.

During the workshop experienced ICLEI Africa team members and experts in energy modelling and sampling techniques provided participants with essential and first-hand recommendations. These interactive sessions included real-time exercises and enriching discussions, which were met with great enthusiasm from the Help Community members.

The series of training sessions will conclude with a fourth webinar that will focus on methodology developed by ICLEI Africa to facilitate participatory workshops with the aim to set local goals and plan energy and climate actions.

Through this series, CoM SSA aims to strengthen the expertise of the local partner, Help Community, who will be able to support the Cameroonian municipalities involved in CoM SSA activities in their efforts towards sustainable urban development.

Over the course of the coming weeks, Help Community will soon be able to put their learnings into practice, as they will actively be involved in developing the City of Garoua’s SEACAP, in close collaboration with CoM SSA.

See an HC video (in French) about the SEACAP development process here