How UNIMAC’s participation in the JFA-CEEAC forum is expanding the organisation’s reach into Central African regional dialogue — and why that shift matters for the communities it serves.
Yaoundé, Cameroon·UNIMAC represented by Griselda Nsombo, Focal Point Yaoundé·CEEAC Regional Forum
Regional Integration · Peacebuilding · Good Governance · Women’s Leadership · Youth Entrepreneurship · Climate Resilience · Community Development · CEEAC · Civil Society · Strategic Partnerships · Sustainable Development · UNIMAC · Regional Integration · Peacebuilding · Good Governance · Women’s Leadership · Youth Entrepreneurship · Climate Resilience · Community Development · CEEAC · Civil Society · Strategic Partnerships · Sustainable Development · UNIMAC ·
Event
JFA-CEEAC Forum
Dates
25–31 July 2026
Location
Yaoundé, Cameroon
UNIMAC Rep
Griselda Nsombo
UNIMAC Focal Point Griselda Nsombo representing UNIMAC Cameroon at the JFA-CEEAC forum in Yaoundé, 25–31 July 2026, alongside civil society and government representatives from across Central Africa
alt: “UNIMAC representative Griselda Nsombo at the Joint Framework Activities CEEAC forum in Yaoundé, Cameroon, July 2026, with regional civil society and government partners”
Suggested: wide shot of forum participants or Griselda Nsombo at a session
No organisation can solve today’s development challenges alone. Youth unemployment, gender inequality, climate change, peacebuilding, and sustainable development are not national problems with national solutions — they are regional realities that demand regional responses. From 25 to 31 July 2026, UNIMAC stepped into that regional space, participating in the Joint Framework Activities forum of the Economic Community of Central African States (JFA-CEEAC) in Yaoundé.
Representing the organisation was Griselda Nsombo, UNIMAC’s Focal Point for Yaoundé, who participated across the week-long forum’s dialogue sessions, networking engagements, and strategic meetings with governments, regional institutions, civil society organisations, development partners, youth groups, and women’s organisations from across Central Africa.
Definition
What is JFA-CEEAC?
The Joint Framework Activities (JFA-CEEAC) is a regional forum convened under the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC / ECCAS), bringing together governments, civil society organisations, development partners, youth groups, and women’s organisations from across Central Africa. The forum advances regional cooperation on peace, governance, gender equality, climate resilience, youth development, and sustainable development.
The forum’s development priorities
Eight Pillars. One Regional Agenda.
The JFA-CEEAC forum structured its dialogue around eight interconnected development priorities — each representing a domain where Central African nations face common challenges and where collective action produces outcomes impossible to achieve independently.
🌐
Regional integration
Building the institutional, economic, and diplomatic foundations for deeper cooperation among Central African states.
☮️
Peacebuilding & social cohesion
Developing shared frameworks for conflict prevention, post-conflict recovery, and the construction of durable social peace.
🏛️
Good governance
Strengthening citizen participation, institutional accountability, and transparent public administration across the region.
♀️
Women’s leadership
Advancing gender equality and the meaningful participation of women in political, economic, and social decision-making.
🚀
Youth engagement
Creating structured pathways for youth entrepreneurship, civic participation, and leadership development at regional scale.
🌱
Climate resilience
Developing coordinated responses to the environmental challenges disproportionately affecting Central Africa’s most vulnerable communities.
🏘️
Community-led development
Embedding the principle that communities are agents of their own development, not recipients of externally-designed solutions.
🤝
Institutional strengthening
Building the organisational capacity and resource mobilisation capabilities of civil society and government institutions across the region.
The eight pillars were not treated as separate domains but as an interconnected system. Climate resilience without good governance is ineffective. Women’s leadership without youth engagement misses half the constituency. Community-led development without institutional strengthening fails to scale. The forum’s integrated approach is what distinguishes it from single-issue advocacy.
“
Development challenges have outgrown national borders. The organisations that will create lasting impact in the coming decade are those building partnerships at the scale the problems actually operate — regional, multi-sectoral, and grounded in local realities.
Participation in a regional forum produces two kinds of value: what you learn, and what you demonstrate. UNIMAC arrived in Yaoundé with seven years of community-embedded programme experience to contribute to the collective knowledge of a room full of Central Africa’s civil society leaders.
Empowering women & girls
From the DREAM Project across the NW, Centre, and Far North Regions to domestic worker advocacy and reproductive health emergency response — UNIMAC’s women-centred programming spans multiple sectors and regions.
Youth leadership & entrepreneurship
Structured interventions that move beyond rhetoric to build young people’s practical capacity for economic participation and civic engagement.
Sustainable livelihoods
Community-level programmes that connect individual economic capability to household resilience and community stability.
Climate awareness
Environmental education and climate resilience components integrated into community development programming across Cameroon.
Community resilience
A track record of working in Cameroon’s most difficult environments — the North West, South West, and Far North — under conditions that test organisational adaptability.
Human rights advocacy
Active engagement with labour rights, domestic worker protections, SRH in emergencies, and tolerance education as dimensions of a rights-based development approach.
Photograph
UNIMAC representative Griselda Nsombo in dialogue with civil society partners and development organisations at the JFA-CEEAC forum, Yaoundé
Suggested: candid networking or session photo of Griselda Nsombo with other delegates
Strategic networking outcomes
What a Week of Regional Dialogue Actually Produces
The formal sessions of a week-long forum are the visible programme. The less visible but often more consequential work happens in the corridors, during coffee breaks, at shared meals — the accumulation of individual conversations that become institutional relationships. This is where partnerships are genuinely initiated.
Future collaborative projects
Active conversations with partner organisations across Central Africa about joint programming on women’s empowerment, youth development, and climate resilience.
Knowledge exchange
Access to field experience, evaluation learnings, and programme methodologies from organisations working in analogous contexts across the region.
Regional learning
Exposure to emerging best practices in governance, peacebuilding, and gender-responsive programming not yet widely adopted in Cameroon.
Institutional partnerships
Foundation relationships with regional institutions, UN bodies, and development agencies that convert forum attendance into durable cooperation.
Increased civil society visibility
UNIMAC’s presence within Central African regional networks — making the organisation visible to future funders, partners, and collaborators operating at regional scale.
Learning from regional best practices
Lessons From the Region That Will Improve UNIMAC’s Work
The forum’s value was not only reputational. The technical sessions delivered substantive learning across six domains that UNIMAC will carry directly into its programme design and community engagement work.
Peacebuilding & conflict prevention
Approaches tested across Central African post-conflict contexts that extend and refine UNIMAC’s existing tolerance education and social cohesion programming.
Inclusive governance
Models for citizen participation and community accountability structures that can strengthen the governance dimension of UNIMAC’s community development work.
Gender-responsive programming
Frameworks for ensuring that programmes address structural gender inequalities, not just surface-level inclusion — a direct enhancement of UNIMAC’s women’s empowerment methodology.
Climate adaptation
Practical approaches to community-level climate resilience developed in contexts facing similar environmental pressures to Cameroon’s most vulnerable regions.
Community resilience
Evidence-based models for building the social and institutional capacity that allows communities to absorb and recover from shocks — whether economic, environmental, or conflict-related.
Sustainable development planning
Long-horizon planning frameworks that connect immediate community interventions to regional development goals, enabling UNIMAC to position its work within larger strategic narratives.
A vision for greater regional impact
Why Regional Engagement Is Now Part of UNIMAC’s Core Strategy
UNIMAC’s trajectory follows a clear directional logic: each year, the organisation has expanded the radius of its engagement. Local community programmes. National coordination platforms. International forum participation in Baku. And now regional integration through CEEAC.
That expansion is not ambition for its own sake. It is strategic positioning in response to a structural reality: the problems UNIMAC’s communities face — climate disruption, economic exclusion, social fragmentation, institutional weakness — are being shaped by forces operating at regional and global scale. Organisations that engage only at community level cannot address those upstream causes. Organisations that engage at all levels can.
Level 1
Community
Grassroots programme delivery in Cameroon’s NW, Centre, SW, and Far North Regions
Level 2
National
UNFPA TWG, RENATRADOM, multi-partner coordination across Cameroon
Level 3
International
Global South NGO Platform, Baku 2026 — 1,000+ delegates, 3 continents
Level 4
Regional
JFA-CEEAC, Yaoundé 2026 — Central African regional integration
The knowledge, relationships, and institutional visibility gained at JFA-CEEAC will inform UNIMAC’s programme design, strengthen its grant applications, and position it as a credible partner in regional initiatives — multiplying the impact of every community intervention that continues in Cameroon.
JFA-CEEAC & UNIMAC’s regional engagement
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CEEAC (ECCAS) and why does it matter for Cameroon?▸
CEEAC (Communauté Économique des États de l’Afrique Centrale), known in English as ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States), is the regional integration body for Central Africa, comprising eleven member states including Cameroon. It coordinates regional policy on peace and security, economic development, environmental sustainability, and human development. Cameroon’s development trajectory is directly shaped by regional CEEAC frameworks, making engagement with CEEAC platforms strategically important for Cameroonian civil society.
What is UNIMAC’s role at JFA-CEEAC?▸
UNIMAC participated as a civil society organisation, represented by Yaoundé Focal Point Griselda Nsombo. The organisation contributed field experience from its community programmes across Cameroon, engaged in dialogue on women’s empowerment, youth development, and climate resilience, and built relationships with regional partners and development institutions.
Why is regional forum participation important for local NGOs?▸
Local NGOs that participate in regional forums gain access to funding ecosystems, partnership networks, policy platforms, and technical knowledge that are not accessible from community-level engagement alone. Regional visibility increases credibility with international donors, enables joint programming with peer organisations, and allows local experience to contribute to the shaping of regional policies that ultimately affect local communities.
What are the expected outcomes of UNIMAC’s JFA-CEEAC participation?▸
UNIMAC’s participation is expected to produce: new partnership conversations with Central African civil society organisations; enhanced visibility within CEEAC-linked funding and programming ecosystems; technical learning from regional best practices in peacebuilding, governance, and climate adaptation; and strategic positioning for future collaborative regional initiatives on women’s empowerment, youth development, and sustainable development.
How can organisations collaborate with UNIMAC on regional development initiatives?▸
UNIMAC welcomes collaboration with governments, international institutions, civil society organisations, and development agencies committed to women’s empowerment, youth development, climate resilience, and community-led sustainable development across Central Africa. Contact UNIMAC directly at info@unimaccameroon.org to discuss partnership opportunities.
Partner With UNIMAC Across Central Africa
Sustainable development is built through collaboration. UNIMAC welcomes partnerships with governments, civil society organisations, development agencies, and private institutions committed to advancing inclusive development across Central Africa.
UNIMAC is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to empowering women, girls, and vulnerable communities through education, entrepreneurship, humanitarian action, health promotion, climate resilience, advocacy, and sustainable development. Through strategic partnerships and community-led initiatives — now extending to the Central African regional stage — UNIMAC is building a more inclusive, resilient, and prosperous future for communities across Cameroon and beyond.
unimaccameroon.org
JFA-CEEACCEEACRegional IntegrationCivil SocietyWomen’s LeadershipYouth EntrepreneurshipClimate ResiliencePeacebuildingGood GovernanceUNIMACYaoundéCentral AfricaStrategic PartnershipsSustainable Development
