Who we are
A circle of women moving Cameroon forward.
CEFAP Ladies Circle is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation founded in Yaoundé in 2003. We work for fair social, economic and cultural rights: empowering women, educating girls, standing with survivors of violence.
Mission
Inspiring women and girls to dare and to achieve
Helping women and girls help themselves: training, social and economic integration, a place to be heard and supported.
Vision
A fair and equal society
We think globally and act locally, together with communities.
Values
Equality · Dignity · Pacifism · Political neutrality · Respectful agnosticism · Solidarity across borders · Humility
Our story
The circle was started in 2003 by five young single mothers living in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Yaoundé, where about three girls in four never went to school or left early, pushed into odd jobs, survival sex work or early marriage.
Their aim: to help girls who had dropped out of school and women in distress, through training and a way into work. That work on the ground widened into women’s rights, justice, gender equality and fair development.
When people struggle together, what was once unimaginable, suddenly becomes possible.
20+ years of action
2003
Founded in Yaoundé
Five young single mothers from a poor neighbourhood of Yaoundé start the circle.
2010s
Gaining strength
13 areas of action, the WIN conferences, and a 2016 WWSF prize for our coordinator.
2024–25
Major partnerships
With the French Embassy: 200 rural women trained. Schools in Kribi and Mbalmayo equipped.
2026
A pivotal year
A shelter for survivors of violence, and a new school in Ngoulemakong.
Our 13 areas of action
The framework of the circle’s work
- Women and the law
- Women and violence
- Gender and development
- Women and education
- Fighting poverty
- Reproductive health, STIs and HIV
- Empowerment, leadership and entrepreneurship
- Education, training and capacity building
- Women and ICT
- Food security
- Decent work
- Migration
- Sustainable development and the environment
The team
Anne Pélagie Yotchou Tzeudjom épse Tendong
Founder and coordinator
Social entrepreneur, human rights defender, gender and development expert. Winner of the 2016 WWSF prize for women’s creativity in rural life.
“For me, empowering women and girls is one of the keys to advancing justice and gender equality, and to ending gender-based violence and discrimination.”
A five-member board, an executive bureau, a core team of six, and a committee of advisers and donors.
Team portraits are coming soon.
Partners
Coming soon
The circle’s partners will be presented here, with their agreement.
International networks
- AWID
- ROFAF
- WIN
- IAW
- EQUITAS
- Genre en Action
- FERAFCAM