Yaoundé, Cameroon—

Thousands of Cameroonian women took to the streets on Friday, International Women’s Day, to call for greater educational and economic opportunities and an end to harmful prejudices and practices.

The Central African country’s Women’s Empowerment Ministry said some 30,000 women came to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, many wearing special green and yellow dresses with the slogan “Invest in women, accelerate progress”.

Women sang about the desire to be free and to achieve true equality with men.

Human rights activist Muma Bih Yvonne said women wanted to end the idea that they should be limited to raising children, housework and farm work.

“Women just want a level playing field,” she said. “Women want equal opportunities; women want to close the long-delayed gender gap. If you have a girl and a boy, giving them equal treatment responsibilities creates equity. competitive environment.”

Muma said illiteracy rates among women remain high because many families still prefer to send only boys to school. Protesters say the practice prevents women from holding public office positions that require literacy.

They also criticized Cameroonian men who own more than 85% of the land and would only sell it to other men or give it only to their sons.

In an effort to change long-standing practices, organizers of Friday’s rally invited hundreds of men, including traditional rulers, who inflict what women say is inhumane treatment on widows. Some of these practices include forcing women to sleep with their deceased husband’s body and drink the water used to bathe the body to show that they did not kill their spouse.

Ernest Akufo, adviser to the traditional rulers of Ndope in Cameroon’s northwest region, said after listening to the demonstrators that he believed women should be given the same opportunities as men.

“In my village community, women were not included at celebrity level until recently. Why not until now? Even though they are included at that level, the treatment given to them is not commensurate,” Akufo said.

“That’s why men use stereotypes about them: ‘Why do you go talk about politics [when] Should you be in my kitchen? ” he said. “These are stereotypes; these are the things that push women into the background. “

Cameroon’s Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Family Marie-Theresa Abena Ondoa said President Paul Biya is committed to improving conditions for women.

Appointing more women as managers of state-owned enterprises and directors of administrative offices demonstrates political will to eliminate bias and include women in decision-making, she said.

“many people [women] Don’t know their rights,” Ondoa said. “If they want to progress, they have to have the will, and I think the government is doing a lot to really make women stand out. Women have proven they can go into all fields, but we still need to do more to ensure that all those entering primary education do not drop out. “

Ondoa noted that Cameroon currently has more than 60 women in the country’s 180-member National Assembly and lower house of parliament, and about 50 women serve as town mayors.