Prof Marie Thérèse Abena Ondoa is the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family where she is among others, in charge of the development and implementation of government measures relating to the promotion and respect of women’s rights and the protection of the family, per the description of her job by the state. She is respected nationwide and beyond for her grandiose activities in promoting the fight against discrimination against women and for activities designed to strengthen the promotion and protection of the family and those tailored to promote and protect children’s rights as well as relationships with the international world in terms of women’s affairs. Since her appointment as Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family in over 15 years ago, she has recorded groundbreaking successes in all her fields of responsibility and even more. Gender equality has drastically improved across all the sectors of the society as notably seen at the level of parliament where the number of female legislators has steadily increased.
The current legislature in the national assembly has 61 female members of parliament against 119 male MPs, a drastic increase from the 25 female MPs that the country had before the 2013 legislative elections. An encouraging 26 of the total 100 senators in the currently legislature are women, that is six more than the 20 that made the cut in 2013 when the legislative body was first introduced in the country. Besides pushing for equality using both bottom-to-top and top-to-bottom approaches, the member of government has under the leadership of the Head of State, Paul Biya and the Coordination of Prime Minister and Head of Government, Chief Joseph Dion Ngute also partnered with other bodies nationally and internationally in boosting the wellbeing of girls and women in other fields.
She has also achieved remarkable results in the promotion of family values notably through the organization of capacity building works, sensitization campaigns and the introduction of policies that are favorable in promoting family values. She has advocated against child marriages which deprive young children of access to education. The minister has in the same line, championed causes for the introduction of vocational training centers and other specialized institutions designed to provide Cameroonians with alternative forms of education notably in the field of information and communication technologies. Prof Abena Ondoa is respected beyond the circles of the promotion of women’s empowerment. She is honored for her dedication and endless strides in promoting excellence. Before her appointment as a minister, she had served the nation in a host of other key positions, climaxing as Director of the Yaounde Central Hospital in 2009. A post she held for barely half a year before her subsequent appointment to join the government, adding to a profile that included years as a lecturer in the University of Yaounde I.
