The third phase of the Baka Rights and Dignity Project was launched in Mbalmayo recently.

A one-day workshop on Baka Rights and Dignity phase III took place in Mbalmayo in the Nyong and So'o Division of the Centre Region on Tuesday May 29. Organised by Plan Cameroon, the workshop brought together stakeholders working for the inclusion of mother tongues in primary education in the country.

Speaking during the opening, the Plan Support Manager, Casimir Youmbi, called on participants to come out with strategies for the success of the pilot initiative of intercultural multilingual education for the Baka people of the East Region. The objective of the workshop was to get inputs and recommendations from stakeholders for the quality implementation of the Intercultural Multi-lingual Education (IME) projects.

Baka Rights and Dignity project is an initiative of Plan Cameroon. Started in 2003 with funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, the primary aim of the project is to improve living standards and also to set up appropriate strategies and systems to protect Baka civil rights and human dignity. The workshop held on the theme: "Multicultural and multi-lingual education: A sustainable alternative for the integration and safeguarding of the culture of indigenous people."