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b. Living Conditions of Detainees
The dilapidated state and overcrowding of prisons hardly make them conducive for
living. Families are however authorized to bring food to their detained family members to
supplement prison rations.
Negotiations are ongoing with international organizations to meet the needs of child
inmates. The plans entail creating separate quarters for minors, girls and boys within the
prisons, building school blocks for the children and for vocational training, libraries, video
libraries and playing areas. For Douala, the Bepanda shelter and observations centre will
be turned into a pilot institution for children in need of special protection measures under
one roof (orphans and vulnerable children, street children, children having fallen foul of the
law, child trafficking victims). The project is supported by the UNICEF Special Protection
Programme and will serve as yardstick for the entire Central African region, once it takes
shape. However, funds should be mobilized for its implementation.
For now, child inmates in prisons such as the Yaounde Central Prison have leisure
activities such as dancing, television, cinema, board games, sports and cultural events.
D. Respect for the Views of the Child (Article 7)
The preamble of Cameroon‟s Constitution stipulates the free expression of opinion
by all citizens. Indeed, the Constitution states that “the freedom of communication, of
expression, of the press, of assembly, of association, and of trade unionism, as well as the
right to strike shall be guaranteed under the conditions fixed by law”
Cameroon continues to celebrate the Day of the Child each year to enable children
to express their views on education, health, combating corruption and the problem of
street children, during the Children‟s Parliament sessions.
Furthermore, 24 Information, education and crisis centres have been set up in
schools, with the support of UNICEF, as part of the adolescent participation and
development programme. Several health clubs have also been formed in primary and
secondary schools to combat HIV/AIDS; “child-friendly and girl-friendly” pilot schools have
also sprung up. Child governments and child and youth municipal councils (COMJ) have
also been set up in Douala, Yaounde, Ngaoundéré and Bertoua, with the support of
UNICEF.